- But the city is at serious risk for
- The next big quake in the Bay Area could be disastrous.
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San Francisco is building skyscrapers like crazy — and there could be a deadly downside
San Francisco is undergoing a construction boom, but building codes for skyscrapers aren't strong enough, according to experts.
San Francisco is undergoing a skyscraper building boom, but the city's building stock — including skyscrapers — is at serious risk in a major earthquake.
There's a 76% chance that the San Francisco Bay Area could experience a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake within the next 30 years, according to some reports. The earthquake that caused the fire that leveled much of the city in 1906 was measured at a magnitude of 7.9.
In downtown San Francisco, where most of the new skyscrapers are clustered, a 7.2 magnitude quake could leave nearly 30% of apartments or office spaces in the neighborhood completely unusable. That's almost one in three residences.
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The city is located directly above a group of major, active fault lines, including the San Andreas and Hayward faults. Residents of the Bay Area are used to small tremors and shakes, but a large magnitude earthquake could be disastrous — and the recent skyscraper boom is making the situation even more dangerous.
According to a New York Times investigation, the area under San Francisco's downtown — near the notorious Millennium Tower, which has
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