unreinforced masonry buildings: Portland's earthquake emergency waiting to happen

A few years ago, I wrote an article about unreinforced masonry buildings here in Portland, Oregon. That might sound like an extremely niche topic, but URM buildings are a major risk factor for earthquakes — folks living and working in these buildings face higher risks. In the time since I wrote my original article, the City of Portland has actually managed to go from doing as little as possible to doing absolutely nothing about these buildings. This updated zine covers the risks, how to recognize URM buildings, and what we can do about them.

The zine is available to download in three versions: a PDF for printing, a PDF for reading on screens, and an EPUB. If you live or work in a URM building here in Portland, I officially give you permission to make copies of this zine to distribute to other people in the building.