Can this landmark L.A. skyscraper survive a major quake? County officials want to find out

Faced with the prospect of an extensive, and expensive, seismic safety retrofit for its 1960s-era downtown headquarters, L.A. County decided to vet an alternative: a far newer building, located just blocks away. Not only was it built under stricter standards, the reasoning goes, but it was available at a massive discount compared with its pre-pandemic price tag.

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But, as the 1994 Northridge earthquake demonstrated, common types of steel-framed buildings still can be severely damaged during stronger earthquakes. During that magnitude 6.7 temblor, 25 steel-moment-frame buildings were significantly damaged, including the Automobile Club of Southern California building in Santa Clarita, which almost collapsed.

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[...] seismic engineers are conducting an “in-depth evaluation” to determine whether the Gas Company Tower, the fifth-tallest member of the downtown skyline, has vulnerabilities that need to be addressed, according to an L.A. County spokesperson.

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It is one of many L.A. skyscrapers that incorporates a steel moment frame as part of its structural system. Such frames are made up of horizontal beams and vertical columns, and feature a largely rectangular skeleton. Steel moment frame buildings rely on the connections between horizontal beams and vertical columns to stay intact during earthquake shaking, keeping the skeleton of the building together.

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