Hundreds of public schools across Washington are located in areas where they could suffer damage in a major earthquake. But more than a decade after the state set out to evaluate school seismic risks, the information is difficult to access and harder to verify.
In the last school year, more than 378,000 students attended schools with buildings constructed before the adoption of modern seismic codes and that have no risk evaluations or retrofits, according to data from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction obtained through a public records request. The majority of seismic risk data collected by school districts and the state is not shared with the public.
An additional 167,000 students attended schools already assessed as having “high” or “very high” seismic risks, based on their locations and building conditions.
Compiling the school seismic data is aimed at determining the scope of vulnerabilities across the state to prioritize building improvements and to inform emergency planning.
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This article was republished by Cascade PBS, ParentMap, The Columbian, Seattle’s Child, the Daily Record (Ellensburg), My Edmonds News, The Leader (Port Townsend), Lynnwood Today, MLT News (Mountlake Terrace), The Chronicle (Centralia), Gorge Country Media, and the Longview News-Journal.
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