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Yes, our buildings are not built to the higher quake requirements of southern and northern CA.

The newer ones are, which is why they all have the same stipmall stucco look that you see everywhere in the Bay Area and LA. The only exception that I know of for newer buildings is for the towers, which have the anchor requirements waived simply because it's not feasible to sink a buildings foundations more than a half mile underground.

These newer buildings may be safer, but I prefer the look of the older brick and wooden buildings myself. I'm actually typing this from the inside of a vintage 1940's office complex that, when the big one hits, will likely be knocked flat by the shaking, but which has far more character and personality than any building put up in this city in the past 20 years.

I've always found it funny that the Modesto City Schools main office resides in a 1920's vintage multistory brick building that ALREADY has cracks in the sides. It's been a while since I was there, but at one time there were actually signs next to the entrances advising people that the building would probably fall down in a major earthquake, and by entering you were waiving their liability for your injury or death. Despite this, they have never seriously tried to retrofit or replace the building, and dozens of people go to work inside it every day without a second thought.

Living in this state requires a certain suspension of belief I guess. Maybe that's why we have so many left wing crazies :-)