In the 1990s, scientists discovered that the coastline of the Pacific Northwest falls along the Cascadia subduction zone, a tectonic fault line capable of producing 9.0-magnitude earthquakes, the last of which is estimated to have occurred in 1700. Despite the Museum of Anthropology’s careful attention to site and history, its architects and engineers were blissfully unaware of the structure’s susceptibility to seismic activity and designed the Great Hall’s structure independently from the rest of the museum.

Since 1994 the University of British Columbia has devoted $200 million to seismic upgrades on its existing building stock. After Erickson’s death in 2009, the Museum of Anthropology’s freestanding Great Hall was identified as a significant seismic risk, and the university announced plans for a renovation in 2018.

The completion of this restoration marks a significant milestone and an important chapter in the preservation and protection of BC's history. You can read all about it in this article from The Architect's Newspaper.