Will Increased Earthquake Activity Impact CRE Investment in CA?

The earthquakes seem to keep rolling in this summer out of Ridgecrest, California, where earlier this month a 7.1 magnitude earthquake followed a 6.4 magnitude earthquake days earlier. The increased earthquake activity has many commercial real estate owners wondering how to respond, and while the activity isn’t likely to stall investment activity, investors are reevaluating response systems and learning how to react quickly in the event of more seismic activity.

“Earthquakes are hard to predict as to when and where they’ll strike. The CRE community needs to be ready to respond,” Steve Core, president of RiverRock Real Estate Group, tells GlobeSt.com. “Management teams need to know what to do, who and what resources they have access to and need a solid base of vendor service partners ready to secure and get their properties back online as needed.  Having these sources identified and customer and client records updated and accessible is key to keeping everyone informed and to the overall recovery process.”

Core says that owners should also take steps not only to keep the building safe but also to keep technology and records safe in the event of a disastrous earthquake. “Ensuring that your technology and records are safe and available for restoration is of primary importance as well,” he says. “RiverRock has a redundant back up system that runs every four hours and is backed up in three separate locations outside of California.  This ensures our latest information is never more than four hours old and eliminates the threat of spending days rebuilding and inputting lost information.”

Despite the increase in earthquake activity, RiverRock has no plans to make any changes to its current system—which was recently updated before this current spurt of quakes. However, it does plan to up drills and training. “We believe the plan we’ve put into place is solid.  We’ve identified areas that need to be addressed and will meet with the teams to discuss,” says Core. “Training and drills are important, but there’s nothing like working through an active event to show you the strengths and weaknesses of a plan.”