I don't know a whole lot about building and maybe they do have earthquake codes here but I saw this condominium complex as it was being built a few years ago, while visiting here. I thought to myself, "Who the hell would buy a cracker box like that to live in?". I could see the cheap materials that were being used. The plywood was at least as good as card board. Well here I am staying in it right now. The fact is they all seem to be like this these days. I was talking about this several years ago with two friends of mine who had come to the US from Scotland. They were roofers by trade. They used to say that "if they built houses like this back in Scotland they would be condemmned for human habitation". I moved into an apartment once and the walls were so thin that I moved out again the very next morning. And this was in Los angeles. So much for earthquake proof.