Residential Earthquake Hazards Report: Fill & Download for Free

Although the written history of California is not long, records of earthquakes exist that affected the Spanish missions that were constructed beginning in the late 18th century. Those records ceased when the missions were secularized in 1834, and from that point until the California Gold Rush in the 1840s, records were sparse. Other sources for the occurrence of earthquakes usually came from ship captains and other explorers. For the period 1850–2004, there was about one potentially damaging event per year on average, though many of these did not cause loss of life or property damage. The earliest known earthquake was documented in 1769 by the Spanish explorers and Catholic missionaries of the Portolá expedition as they traveled northward from San Diego along the Santa Ana River near the present site of Los Angeles.[1][2]The few damaging earthquakes that occurred in the American Midwest and the East Coast were well known (1755 Cape Ann, 1811–12 New Madrid, 1886 Charleston), and it became apparent to settlers that the earthquake hazard situation was much different in the West. While the 1812 Wrightwood, 1857 Fort Tejon, and 1872 Lone Pine shocks were only moderately destructive in mostly unpopulated areas, the 1868 Hayward event affected the thriving financial hub that is the San Francisco Bay Area, with damage from Santa Rosa in the north to Santa Cruz in the south. By this time, scientists were well aware of the threat, but seismology was still in its infancy. Reactions following destructive events in the late 19th and early 20th centuries included developers, press, and boosters minimizing and downplaying the risk out of fear that the ongoing economic boom would be negatively affected.[3][4]California earthquakes (1769–2000)According to seismologist Charles Richter, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake moved the United States Government into acknowledging the problem. Prior to that, no agency was specifically focused on researching earthquake activity. The United States Weather Bureau did record when they happened and several United States Geological Survey scientists had briefly disengaged from their regular duties of mapping mineral resources to write reports on the New Madrid and Charleston events, but no trained geologists were working on the problem until the Coast and Geodetic Survey was made responsible after 1906. The outlook improved when professor Andrew Lawson brought the state's first monitoring program online at the University of California, Berkeley in 1910 with seismologist Harry Wood, who was later instrumental in getting the Caltech Seismological Laboratory operational in the 1920s.[3][5]Early developments at the Caltech lab in Pasadena included an earthquake observation network using their own custom built short period seismometers, the Richter magnitude scale, and an updated version of the Mercalli intensity scale. In 1933, the Long Beach earthquake occurred in a populated area and damaged or destroyed a large number of public school buildings in Long Beach and Los Angeles. Some decades later, the 1971 San Fernando earthquake affected the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. In both cases, the perception of those involved with policy making in California was changed, and state laws and building codes were modified (but not without much debate) to require commercial and residential properties to be built to withstand earthquakes. Higher standards were established for fire stations, hospitals, and schools and construction of dwellings was also restricted near known active faultsList of earthquakes in California - Wikipedia

As a professional developer who has built over 2,000 homes I have never found a complete checklist. But here is the procedure I use.1. Check out zoning – Is your intended use permitted? Watch for setbacks, building heights and any other limitations2. Check out General Plan – Is the zoning consistent with the General Plan? I have seen lots zoned residential but with a general plan designation of park. You might have problems and it will cost more.3. Make friends with the Planning Department4. Inquire with Planning Department if there are any special districts or environmental overlays.5. If things look good, put the land under contract- In my world that would be a letter of intent with a good long due-diligence period, but in a residential setting it most likely will be in the form or a purchase and sale agreement, again with a good long due diligence period. (due diligence is the time for you to find out if there are any issues with title or other matters that could limit the usefulness of the land. You can withdraw from the contract if you find something.)6. If the department has a pre-development program, take advantage of that. At a pre-development meeting bring a drawing of what you’re planning and a description. It can be a hand drawing. A planner will sit down with you and discuss the proposed project. Tell him/her what you are thinking of doing. Let them tell you what they think but before you walk away make sure you have answers for the following:a. Have there been any prior applications, if so what happenedb. Is the property in a flood zonec. Are there any hillside or geological issues (don’t build on an earthquake fault)d. Are there any archaeological issuese. Are there any hazardous waste issuesf. Are there any biological/environmental issuesg. Noise, school, water, waste-water, storm water, unrecorded easementsh. BIG- What level of environmental review will be required?i. Negative Declaration: Minimal review and costii. Mitigated Negative Declaration, Delay and thousands to tens of thousandsiii. Focused Environmental Impact Report (EIR): 1 to 2 year delay and tens to hundred thousand plus.iv. Full EIR, 2-5 years and millions, RUN!i. How long will the permitting process take?j. What level of approval will be required: Planning director, Planning Commission, City Council or Board of Supervisors.7. Time to review the preliminary title report. Escrow will have been opened within days of your purchase agreement having been accepted. The title company will give you a preliminary title report. It contains all things of record that impact the property. These can be monetary liens (Property Taxes, Judgements, Deed of Trust (current owners loan(s)), other Tax liens: Physical easements right to put power lines over or under your land, right to dig wells, pipe line easements, water easements, the list can be pretty long and may even include some very old covenants like restrictions of sale to people of color, Hispanics, or Chinese; Prohibition. While these latter are not enforceable, the title company will disclose everything of record. If they don’t then they are liable for any loss in value for something not disclosed.8. Knock on doors. Yes I do this. Walk around and ask the neighbors about how they like the neighborhood. As about changes. Was there a gas station anywhere nearby? What about oil wells? What about other businesses. Laundromats, junk yard, old landfills, etc.9. Go to Google Earth, look at the lot over time. It’s one of the functions you can go back and see what was on the land. It’s called historical imagery. Some places seem to only go back to 1994 but there are images that go back to the 30’s. If you suspect any potentially toxic activity check out the images at the Fairchild collection. Available both at UCSB and Whittier College.10. If any potential issues with hydro carbon (oil), archaeological, environmental hire an expert to conduct a phase 1 investigation. You can extend the due diligence period if this becomes necessary.If this seems too much, there are planners who can help you navigate the issues. At the very least hire a good local architect. You will save more than his fee, every time.With all this in hand you can then make an informed decision about moving forward or not.

There are federal laws in place to help people who live in an area declared a "disaster area" by the United States President.First, lenders are required to STOP reporting your missed payments to the credit bureau. Second, lenders are required to work with you to help you get caught up with any missed payments.If the area is declared a disaster area, there can be federal assistance available to you to help you rebuild the home.Mortgage lenders require that you pay for fire/hazard insurance. Filing a claim and rebuilding a home takes time and your insurance policy should help with your housing expense while you're rebuilding the home.If you live in a Flood Hazard area, lenders already require that you obtain flood insurance that helps the lender (not you)If a natural disaster happens in your area such as an earthquake, and you do not have earthquake insurance, AND there is federal aid available, you would go through the painstakingly slow steps of rebuilding the home with government aid.All residential mortgage lenders that are in any way providing loan servicing for "Federally related" loans such as FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (conventional loans), or USDA loans all must follow the federal guidelines to help consumers who are victims of a presidentially declared disaster. In addition Veterans (VA loans) receive even more help from loan servicing, and they deserve it.I hope this does not happen to you! But the good news is help is available.