Only days after the 1989 Loma Prieta quake struck the Santa Cruz mountains causing massive destruction in the San Francisco Bay Area, a group of engineeers from the APA - The Engineered Wood Association - arrived in California. They were on a mission to find out what works, to protect our lives and property.



EarthquakeAdvisor.com acknowleges the engineers of the APA for their contribution to the understanding of seismic construction and to thank them for their generosity in allowing us to share the information they assembled.



The tragic Loma Prieta earthquake gave dramatic proof of what engineers, architects and builders have believed for years: properly designed wood-frame construction is inherently more resistant to earthquake damage than other types of construction.



Where damage did and did not occur also showed that the proper use of structural wood panels along with foundation bolting and other retrofit measures can help a home survive a major quake with little or no damage. The APA engineers observed a marked difference between the performance of wood-frame buildings with adequate seismic design and the performance of buildings without such features.



The quake jolted many property owners out of complacency and into action. In this section of EarthquakeAdvisor.com you can learn from the APA some of the measures that can be taken to protect wood-frame homes, buildings and their inhabitants.