CA hospitals await new earthquake law exemptions

Many hospitals in California are anticipating a move by the state to exempt older medical centers from certain strict earthquake-safety requirements.

The state will consider emergency regulations next week that use a new method to determine how likely it is that a given hospital might collapse in an earthquake. Six out of 10 hospitals are expected to take advantage of this new method, which will help them avoid billions in retrofit costs, the Sacramento Business Journal reported.

California's seismic safety law went into effect in 1994 after the damaging Northridge earthquake in January of that year, which closed at least five hospitals, according to the Journal.