a lot of the houses that are built with wood are undesirable -earthquakes, fire risk etc Many American houses are colloquially called "stick houses"[1] because

a lot of the houses that are built with wood are undesirable -earthquakes, fire risk etc Many American houses are colloquially called "stick houses"[1] because they are built from 2"x4" or 2"x6" lumber. These are often also called "wood frame"[2]. In an earthquake I'd rather take my chances in a wood frame house over one built from bricks, concrete, and rebar. After earthquakes, I've seen too many collapsed concrete buildings on TV, with people buried under tons of rubble. A wood frame house is generally too light to collapse in such a way as to pancake the occupants. I agree with you in terms of other risks. E.g. we've had a lot of forest fires this summer, and many wood frame houses were lost. All that remained were the concrete foundations and the brick fireplaces. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stick-built_home https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stick-built_home [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-frame_house https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-frame_house