Ok, so Mr. Big takes a billion from the busgus, and tells me to make Cushing alive again. New Orleans would be easier, but nobody voted for him there. Cushing has the problem that it must withstand a near-field m8, multiple times. That's 1-2 m/s on soft soil. At those levels, cars will be flipped over, and buildings will jump up a foot off the ground, before smashing back.
This is nothing to what an ocean ship goes through, so how can we make Cushing a model town to survive earthquakes. Think of the tourism after the 8's when everybody is on their porches, sipping coffee. You can easily build something ugly, but how do you preserve a historic feel?
Obviously, ugly buildings like this one must be torn down. The only thing to preserve is the bricks if they are pretty. You build like a ship, but we will make precast panels with the bricks embedded in them. All buildings will be stiff steel or concrete, on deep piles. This way, all the pretty glass will stay intact.
The cute buildings will have basements, and all services come through tunnels on piles. Every year they will have a big earthquake festival, and install fiber to the home, so they attract the Palo Alto set. The roofing will be steel for tornados, 200 mph grade. With trumpievouchers, the new people won't have to suffer with the local bibbly education system. :)
The interiors will all have to be ship-shape, with everything secured. We need carbon fiber drywall. :)
ps. As usual, this post was 'educational', in that it is impossible to 'upgrade' a historic city centre to take this type of ground motion. You have to create one from scratch and that's way too expensive. The best you can do is like Christchurch - pretend that the brick buildings that stood are good, put in 'upgrades', and fool everybody into thinking that it's good to go.
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