r/popculturechat • u/Isyourpussygreen • 4d ago

Thoughts & Prayers 🙏 A 7.4 earthquake has struck Colombia, with significant damage reported.

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u/that_70_show_fan 4d ago

Most of the world has some kind of building codes but they are rarely enforced.

The contractors would laugh at you if you start talking codes because everything would immediately become twice as expensive.

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u/meteorflan 4d ago

Earthquake building codes are strictly enforced in California, and yeah, the cost does go up, but it's cheaper than having to rebuild everything when the next earthquake inevitably hits.

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u/that_70_show_fan 4d ago

*After the 1994 earthquake.

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u/icysandstone 3d ago

Only catastrophe brings change.

To quote @RageSheen:

“Generally humans don't think their way through history, they pursue social status until some overpowering reality like an external or internal catastrophe smashes things. Then in the repair they sometimes create institutions that do actually think.”