During the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in the Los Angeles area, many steel moment-resisting frame structures experienced unexpected brittle damage to their beam-to-column connections.

Non-ductile concrete buildings are structures that contain brittle concrete elements (columns, beams, walls, and connections) that tend to perform poorly during earthquakes due to the limited amount of provided reinforcing steel.

There are multiple cities across the west coast that are being proactive about reducing their seismic risk.