Correlates of Damage to Residences following the Northridge Earthquake,as Reported in a Population-Based Survey of Los Angeles County Residents

Damage to residential structures as a result of earthquakes can be viewed from the perspective of geologic and engineering sciences and from the perspective of the social sciences. Utilizing data collected from a population-based survey, this paper concludes that the distribution of damage, the types of damage, the dollar amount of damage, whether or not homes were inspected and the results of those inspections following the Northridge earthquake correlate with measures of intensity of the earthquake, as well as with characteristics of the building and with characteristics of the household. Interestingly, pga is generally a better predictor of damage than MMI, newer homes suffered more damage than older ones, and higher income households were more affected than lower income households.