> brick isn't earthquake resistant
This is an extreme that is not true. Bricks are harder to make earthquake resistant but it's perfectly possible to build houses that have SOME bricks in it that are also earthquake resistant. There are permutations of materials that are both more fire resistant and more earthquake resistant to the required level at a certain height of the building.
They clearly qualified it with "Not without steel reinforcement."
Anyways the difference in labor costs between wood and reinforced brick would be massive in LA county not to mention the additional cost of materials.