USC University Hospital is proud to have planned ahead by installing a Seismic Isolation System, an advanced technology available for earthquake protection. This system is designed to provide the maximum possible protection from earthquake damage. This technology was used previously under business buildings in various parts of the world.

At the time the hospital was built (completed 1991) seismic isolators (large rubber- incased lead bearings) were placed between the ground and the building. These bearings isolate the building from the ground, and are designed to greatly absorb the movement of the earth. A building with this system that is subjected to a Richter magnitude 8 earthquake would respond as if it were only experiencing a magnitude 5.5 event.

Our system proved itself during the Los Angeles 1994 earthquake. Several patients were interviewed informally at USC University Hospital by a Los Angeles Times reporter a few days after the infamous January 17, 1994 earthquake. Some said they experienced only "a gentle rocking." Others expressed that they did not even realize that a quake was occurring until they heard it later from hospital staff. Patients were greatly surprised to discover later that a major earthquake had rocked Los Angeles, and that areas surrounding the hospital had sustained major damage.