Residential Assistance and Recovery Following the Northridge Earthquake

Abstract

This paper examines the implementation of post-disaster US federal assistance programmes for residential reconstruction and investigates the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics of places and access to residential assistance following the Northridge earthquake that hit Los Angeles in 1994. The paper also examines the effects of the distribution of assistance on long-term recovery outcomes. Findings suggest that areas with high levels of socially marginalised populations were at a disadvantage in accessing federal residential assistance. Findings also show that the long-term effects of the earthquake differed depending on levels of assistance relative to damage. Areas that received less assistance experienced losses in population and housing units. These findings indicate that post-disaster recovery programmes in the US do not adequately address the wide range of housing needs that emerge in the case of a major disaster in a large metropolitan area. Implications for post-disaster planning as well as for planning under everyday conditions are discussed.

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