San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed joined U.S. Representative Kevin Mullin, San Francisco Fire Chief Sandy Tong, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), the National Institute of Building Sciences and Bay Area Council today to announce new federal legislation and commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake.
The proposed federal legislation introduced by Rep. Mullin, CA-15, is supported by Mayor Breed and builds upon resiliency work already underway in San Francisco. The Earthquake Resilience Act would direct the federal government to conduct the first national risk assessment of earthquake resilience and establish guidelines to protect lifeline infrastructure like utilities, transportation, and communications systems. Since the 1989 earthquake, the City has made significant investments of $20 billion to date for seismic safety initiatives put into place that have strengthened public safety, preserved residential dwellings and commercial buildings, prepared San Francisco for expedited post-earthquake recovery, and safeguarded the local economy.
“San Francisco is always working to prepare for the next big earthquake because for us, it’s not a matter of if, but when,” said Mayor London Breed. “Our efforts to increase San Francisco’s seismic resilience goes hand in hand with the progress being made to strengthen San Francisco’s economic resilience. I want to thank U.S. Representative Mullin for introducing the Earthquake Resilience Act that will make San Francisco and cities across the country better prepared and safer, and our City departments and stakeholders who have been hard at work developing improved standards and requirements. We must remain focused on doing the work ahead to keep San Francisco safer and resilient as we prepare for the next earthquake.”
“On the 35th anniversary of Loma Prieta, we are reminded of the devastating power of earthquakes. California has been a leader in preparedness efforts, yet we aren’t alone in facing risks. According to the United States Geological Survey, nearly 75% of America could experience a damaging earthquake in the next century,” said U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, CA-15. “In a world with increasing risks of natural disasters, we need to prepare now for a more resilient future. I thank Mayor Breed for her support and steadfast leadership to enhance San Francisco’s resiliency.”
With a 6.9 magnitude, the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was the strongest earthquake in San Francisco since 1906, killing 63 people and displacing more than 12,000. The damage caused by the earthquake 35 years ago is estimated to be the equivalent of more than $14 billion today. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, San Francisco has a 72 % chance of experiencing an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 or greater by 2043.
In addition to the significant financial investments in seismically retrofitting our City-owned infrastructure and buildings since Loma Prieta, San Francisco has been a leader on implementing retrofit programs that have improved safety for thousands of residents of older buildings; conducting studies and developing plans like the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety to understand and reduce our risk; regularly updating our code for new buildings to incorporate the latest safe building practices; and upgrading our ability to manage and respond to disasters through continuous emergency response planning, training and exercising with all City, regional, state and federal partners with role in earthquake response.
San Francisco regularly activates the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for both planned and unplanned events of citywide significance. With every EOC activation emergency response agencies become more familiar with the City’s emergency operations plans and refines them based on lessons learned, which makes the more prepared to response to a catastrophic earthquake.
San Francisco’s Progress on Safety Improvements and Investments Since Loma Prieta
In April 2024, Mayor Breed issued an Executive Directive instructing the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning and the Department of Building Inspection to work together on legislation that, if approved, will assess the City's inventory of possible vulnerable concrete buildings, collect data to inform next steps in the Concrete Building Safety Program (CBSP), and provide owners of concrete buildings with clear direction on retrofit standards and criteria. This legislation builds on the CBSP Stakeholder Engagement Report and the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety.
Buildings: Loma Prieta revealed structural deficiencies in several building types across the City, including older wood frame “soft story” buildings which have parking or retail on the ground floor and residential units above, and unreinforced masonry buildings, which are supported structurally by brick or masonry walls.
- San Francisco has passed mandatory retrofit programs which upgraded 1,800 unreinforced masonry buildings and 4,600 soft story buildings containing 40,000 units. The retrofit programs initiated in 1992 and the final deadline for compliance was 2004; programs affecting soft story buildings began in 2013 with compliance due in 2021.
- The City has also seismically upgraded and constructed new resilient critical facilities, including City-owned health centers such as Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, through public health and safety bonds voters passed in 2008 and 2016, as well as police and fire stations and other facilities through three Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response (ESER) bonds passed by voters in 2010, 2014, and 2020.
In March 2023, Mayor Breed launched a new safety requirement for tall buildings in response to glass failures in a number of buildings during that month’s winter storms. Prior to this, buildings built after 1998 were not required to undergo these inspections until 30 years after construction.
- The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) now requires accelerated façade inspections for San Francisco buildings that are 15 stories or taller and built after 1998. Owners of these buildings are now required to provide a licensed architect or engineer evaluation of the entire building façade to ensure the safety and stability of all façade elements, including windows.
- Of the six buildings that experienced glass failures during the intense March wind and rainstorms, three are less than 30 years old and, under the original program, were not required to submit a façade evaluation until 30 years after they were constructed.
Infrastructure: San Francisco has made improvements to infrastructure to help it better withstand earthquake shaking and to reduce ignitions and spread of post-earthquake fires.
- The Water System Improvement Project (WSIP) is dedicated to upgrading, repairing, and replacing our aging water infrastructure and the program has repaired or replaced more than 280 miles of pipeline so far.
- The Emergency Firefighting Water System supports the San Francisco Fire Department in fighting post-earthquake fires by increasing high-pressure water delivery systems and stationing 52 suction pumps along the northeastern waterfront for using ocean water.
- San Francisco has facilitated quarterly meetings of the Lifelines Council of public and private lifeline infrastructure providers since 2011 so that they can share information and collaborate about preparing their systems to withstand and recover from an earthquake. San Francisco’s Lifelines Council is the first of its kind in the nation.
“The lessons learned from Loma Prieta and other major earthquakes shape our commitment to strengthening buildings, fortifying critical infrastructure, and improving emergency preparedness and response systems,” said Brian Strong, Chief Resilience Officer and Director of the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning. “San Francisco is more prepared now than ever through the success of the Soft Story and Unreinforced Masonry Retrofit Programs, better building codes, improvements to our water and transportation networks, and retrofits to critical public safety and health facilities funded by voter supported bonds. But building resilience is an ongoing process, and we still have work to do. We are continuing to work together as a City to strengthen our resilience in the face of continuous seismic risk.”
Emergency Services: Led by DEM, the City continuously updates earthquake-related plans and regularly trains and exercises with local, state, and federal partners to practice emergency response coordination, communication, and collaboration to ensure all partners are prepared to respond to a catastrophic earthquake. Looking forward, San Francisco is leading a multiyear regional collaboration strategy to ensure the Bay Area region’s counties’ earthquake response plans are interoperable and efficient.
- We learned from Loma Prieta and many innovations arose in the aftermath of the earthquake. For example, the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) began in 1990 because of residents in the Marina working to extinguish fires and searching for and helping those in need. NERT is the San Francisco Fire Department’s free emergency preparedness and response training program.
"San Francisco emergency responders work hard every day to ensure we are as prepared as possible for an earthquake. Our emergency response plans are regularly updated and practiced. With every Emergency Operations Center activation we become more familiar with these plans, we pivot and adjust based on lessons learned, and we iterate and refine,” said San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll. "But we all have a role in San Francisco’s earthquake preparedness and resilience, which means being prepared at the individual, household, neighborhood and community levels. Doing things like having a family emergency plan, taking stock of emergency supplies, and knowing what to do during an earthquake can dramatically improve how we all will fare as a city after a damaging earthquake.”
“Since the Loma Prieta earthquake, the San Francisco Fire Department has been committed to planning and preparing for any major disaster. Training and drills are held regularly to ensure our members, equipment, and communication infrastructures are always in a state of readiness,” said San Francisco Fire Chief Sandy Tong. “Exercises with other local, State, and federal agencies are performed to ensure interoperability within our agencies for a more effective response during a major incident. The Department is also committed to mitigation efforts to help build community resilience through public education and programs, such as NERT. When the next disaster strikes, the San Francisco Fire Department is prepared and ready to respond to serve the people of the city of San Francisco.”
“Earthquakes are unpredictable and always possible here in the Bay Area,” said Police Chief Bill Scott. “Thankfully, we’ve spent the last 35 years since Loma Prieta preparing for the next big one to hit. The SFPD is trained and ready to respond when any disaster strikes.”
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