My wife and I are looking for a house/condo/apartment in the
South Bay Area of California. We've some earthquake related
questions:

1. There's a 8-storage metropolitan apartment building that the
builder claims to be built with post-tension construction. It
was built in early 2003. Is this technique something especially
for earthquake? Or is it typical of any building these days,
regardless of geographical locations.

2. Given the current construction methods, what's the safety profile
of such a multi-level building versus the usual 2-3 story houses?

3. There're a lot of 40-50 year old houses selling at over half a
million here due to school district. My impression is that wood
framed structure tends to age and become weaker. Is this true?

Thanks,
Raymond