Prepare Yourself And Your Family

Identify Your Home’s Structural Weaknesses

Buildings are built to withstand the downward pull of gravity, yet earthquakes shake a building in all directions - up and down, but most of all, sideways. There are several common issues that can limit a building’s ability to withstand this sideways shaking.

• Inadequate foundations
• Unbraced cripple walls
• Soft First Stories
• Unreinforced Masonry

To find out if your home needs to be retrofitted against earthquakes, the best place to start is at the home retrofit class for homeowners.

Additional Resources

• FEMA Mitigation Division

• Seattle Project Impact

• Emergency Survival Program: Is Your Place Safe?

• Professional Engineers for Small or Residential Projects

• Home Preparedness - Getting Ready

• How To Videos - YouTube EMD Prepare’s Channel

Campus Resources

• UW Hazard Mitigation Plan

• UW Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment (PDF)

• University of Washington Building Restoration and Renewal Prioritization Study, June 2004

• Capital Projects Office Project Tracking System

• EH&S Capital Safety Projects

• Earthquake Readiness Advisory Committee report