NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Will Local Government Be Liable for Earthquake Losses. What Cities and Counties Should Know About Earthquake Hazards and Local Government Liability.
- File
- PB80157308.pdf
- Author(s)
- Margerum, T.
- Source
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. Engineering and Applied Science., January 1979, 34 p.
- Abstract
- The possible liability of a local government for injuries or losses in an earthquake caused by or made more likely by the government's failure to eliminate a known hazard is examined. Pertinent terms are defined including liability, injury, and earthquake hazards. Seven major judicial decisions affecting California tort doctrines between 1960-1977 are cited in view of the potential problem of liability for earthquake hazards. In an outline of the problems, the report includes a clarification of the extent and nature of local government's liability, advisement as to how to cope with that liability, and recommended ways that tort law could be changed to encourage local governments to reduce hazards without increasing their liability. The basic structure and principle of modern tort law is reviewed. Other issues are examined such as how tort law affects local government decisions about earthquake hazards, the problem of uncertainty, the responses to perceived liability, the problem of disincentives, and general awareness of the issue. Three major recommendations are offered to make the law better.
- Keywords
- Liabilities; Litigation; Forts; Law (Jurisprudence); Hazards; Legal liability; Local government; Injuries; Losses; Earthquakes