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The earthquake that struck eastern Los Angeles County on Tuesday caused little damage, but it was a reminder of the seismic volatility in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. Forty-seven years ago, a much more powerful earthquake struck Sylmar — about an hour’s drive from the epicenter of Tuesday’s earthquake — killing 65 people and severely damaging four hospital campuses.

The consequences of that disaster are still being felt.

A law passed in 1973 that ordered hospitals to strengthen their most vulnerable buildings has had unintended consequences across the state. To Nancy Skinner, a state senator in the East Bay, the seismic safety law has been used as an excuse for a vital acute-care hospital, the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, to shut down services at its Berkeley location. The hospital cites financial difficulty in funding the mandated retrofit, whose deadline has been pushed back several times and is now 2020. (There is also a 2030 deadline for buildings to be able to not only withstand an earthquake, but also remain operational.)

Officials with Sutter Health, the hospital system that runs the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, have reassured locals that services will remain intact and that the center will relocate several miles south to Oakland. But Ms. Skinner said the move — which will result in some ambulances and patients having to use one of the most congested highways in America — would have an “extreme” impact on her constituency.

The hospital controversy underscores a recurring problem in California: Residents want safer buildings, but they fear the more immediate consequences of costly renovations.