A report last year revealed that the 12-story condo building that killed one person and left 99 missing when it collapsed on Thursday was sinking and at risk before the horrific event - sparking questions if the tragedy could have been prevented and how to prevent similar collapses in the future.
Authorities have not yet determined what caused the building to collapse and Miami-Dade police have opened an investigation - though Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 'there has been no evidence found of foul play.'
The report was uncovered as it was also revealed that building work on the the roof may have triggered the collapse and that the building was due to be have its safety recertified in just months.
The Champlain Towers South sea-view condo development was built in 1981 by the late developer Nathan Reiber's company Nattel Construction at 8777 Collins Avenue in the southeast corner of Surfside but hasn't been updated significantly since then.
Emergency crews respond to a partially collapsed residential building in Surfside, near Miami Beach in Florida
Emergency crews respond to a partially collapsed residential building in Surfside, near Miami Beach in Florida
Search and Rescue personnel pull out a body out of the rubble after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, on Thursday
Search and Rescue personnel pull out a body out of the rubble after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, on Thursday
Search and Rescue personnel pull out a body out of the rubble after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, on Thursday
A lightning strikes above the Champlain Towers South as Search and Rescue personnel work after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach
A Google Street View image shows the tower before its horrific collapse on Thursday
An advertisement for the Champlain Towers is seen in the 1980s. The Champlain Towers South sea-view condo development was built in 1981 by the late developer Nathan Reiber's company Nattel Construction at 8777 Collins Avenue in the southeast corner of Surfside but hasn't been updated significantly since then
A total of 55 condos collapsed on Thursday - more than a third of the 136 within the building - with most belonging to first-time homeowners. The tower has a mix of seasonal and year-round residents but authorities said the building was 'substantially full' when it collapsed.
It had a few two-bedroom units currently on the market at the time of the collapse with asking prices of $600,000 to $700,000. Some have sold for more than $2 million.
The area is a mix of new and old apartments, houses, condominiums and hotels, with restaurants and stores serving an international combination of residents and tourists.
Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, told USA Today that he knew instantly which building had collapsed when he heard news reports of it because he had studied the building for a report published last year.
'I looked at it this morning and said 'Oh my god.' We did detect that,' he said.
His study was part of a wider look at how buildings in Miami were sinking generally with rising sea levels caused by climate change.
According to the study, the building was sinking at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s because it sits on reclaimed wetlands - which could have impacted the building's structure.
However, that rate could have slowed down or sped up since then, Wdowinski said, adding to the Miami Herald that the land subsidence alone would not have caused the building to collapse.
'It was a byproduct of analyzing the data. We saw this building had some kind of unusual movement,' Wdowinski told USA Today.
Officials said the condo block was going through a recertification process required by Miami Dade building code - which dictates that buildings have to be re-certified every 40 years. The building was due to be recertified for the first time this year.
Kenneth Direktor, a lawyer for the Champlain Towers South Association, told The Miami Herald on Thursday that to prepare for the recertification process an engineer had been hired to plan 'structural and electrical' updates but that work hadn't started yet.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building that partially collapsed on June 24, 2021 in Surfside, Florida
A huge emergency search and rescue operation is underway after the beachfront condo tower, Champlain Towers South, collapsed at about 1.30am this morning in the Miami neighborhood of Surfside. One woman has been confirmed dead and at least eight people were injured
Hundreds of firefighters were seen walking through the wreckage, picking up other survivors and carrying them away. Authorities fear many more people may be dead or remain trapped under the rubble
He told The New York Times that the building had been about to undergo 'extensive repairs for rusted steel and damaged concrete' but that he had seen nothing to suggest the collapse was related to issues identified in the engineering review.
Direktor added that any waterfront building as old as the Champlain Towers would have some corrosion and concrete deterioration and insisted on Thursday that it was too early to speculate about what had happened.
The Miami Herald reported that Frank Morabito was the engineer retained by the Champlain towers but that he could not be reached for comment on
