Later that night, she drove to Meridian Towers.
Now she had to decide: were they safe? That evening, Elena opened her worn copy of SEI 31-03 — Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings . The document was thick, dense, and unforgiving. It wasn’t a design guide for new buildings. It was a screening tool for old ones. SEI 31 03 Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings ....pdf
“That’s a load path discontinuity,” Marcus whispered. Later that night, she drove to Meridian Towers
Elena nodded. “Check Tier 2.”
It passed unanimously.
“No,” she said. “Engineers did. The standard was just the mirror.” A year later, Elena was asked to join the committee updating SEI 31. Her first proposal: a mandatory public disclosure form for any building found to be seismically deficient, so that residents would know the truth before the ground shakes. The document was thick, dense, and unforgiving