Venezuela quakes warn California about aging concrete buildings

Two major Venezuelan quakes (m7.2 and m7.5) collapsed vulnerable non-ductile concrete buildings, leaving at least 164 dead and nearly 1,000 injured. Scientists say Caracas’s risk mirrors Los Angeles/San Francisco, underscoring California’s ongoing need to retrofit older concrete structures, fortify homes, stock emergency supplies, and plan neighborhood responses as USGS notes the potential for massive fatalities in a future large quake.