How earthquake proof is your child’s school?
Aug 16, 2024, 5:00 AM | Updated: 10:24 am
FILE: Fourth graders Jose Gonzalez, Austin Russ and Aaliyah Genao practice taking cover under their desks during The Great Utah ShakeOut earthquake drill at Heartland Elementary School in West Jordan on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Schools all over Utah are at risk if an earthquake hits. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — More than 100 schools in 20 Utah counties could collapse in a major earthquake.
The Utah Seismic Safety Commission identified 119 public school campuses across Utah that have buildings with unreinforced masonry.
Unreinforced masonry buildings, or URMs, are usually buildings from around 1945. These buildings were not built with reinforcing materials in the walls, like rebar in concrete, that are used to meet today’s building codes.
Unreinforced masonry buildings are more likely to get damaged, or even collapse in the event of an earthquake.
Who is at risk?
According to the study, more than 72,000 students attend these at-risk schools. And that number doesn’t take into account the number of private and charter schools that also have unreinforced masonry.
Jessica Chappell, Vice Chair of the Utah Seismic Safety Commission, says communities of these schools need to be aware that an unreinforced masonry building could collapse in a major earthquake.
If an earthquake with a magnitude 6 or greater strikes, there could be an estimated 2,700 deaths and 10,000 injuries.
“I think there’s a lot of respect for the idea of local control over the schools and really understanding the best interest of the community,” said Chappell.
How can we prepare for the worst?
The Commission hopes the state can fund the reconstruction of those schools.
“What would it take to no longer be considered out of compliance? We realized that there isn’t a hard and fast rule for that,” said Sean McGowan of FEMA.
The Wasatch Front has lived under the threat of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake for decades. It runs along a fault that has a 18% probability of one or more earthquakes of that magnitude or greater in the next 50 years.
Another 140,000 buildings along the Wasatch Front have unreinforced masonry construction and are at risk of collapsing when a big one hits.
Diana Jones also contributed to this story.
