What is earthquake "retrofitting"?

What is earthquake "retrofitting"?

Mark Benthien (Director of Communication, Education, and Outreach, Southern California Earthquake Center ) gives expert video advice on: What are the key considerations when preparing for an earthquake? and more...

Earthquake retrofitting is what you do to your house or any building in advance of an earthquake. If it's an older building, retrofitting will mean it will do better in an earthquake when it happens. Newer buildings are built to certain codes, older buildings were built at a time when those codes didn't exist. Retrofitting is bringing them up to a higher level of standards so that they won't fall or won't have a lot of damage during the earthquake.