California Watch investigates seismic safety oversight of California's public schools. A three-part series shows that lax oversight of school construction, poor judgment in hiring building inspectors and inability for schools to access renovation funds have all contributed to the tens of thousands of public schools that fail to comply with the Field Act, which laid out building safety codes after 70 schools collapsed in a 1933 earthquake. Includes audio and videos, interactive maps, photos, Iphone app, events, and social media.

Portugal knows all too well how destructive earthquakes can be. This publication is a testament to the recent work of experts, governments and communities to seismically strengthen school buildings. In addition to presenting 13 detailed case studies of school strengthening completed as part of Portugal’s Secondary School Building Modernisation Programme, the authors describe the context – type of structures, building codes and regulations, technical procedures and assessment frameworks – surrounding these efforts. Published in English/Portuguese (bilingual) 190p

Notes that California's charter and private schools do not always have to comply with the state's Field Act, which has imposed strict seismic building codes on schools since 1933. Some argue that since the Field Act's passage, improved civil codes have been imposed, and that these codes provide ample safety. Arguments for retaining the Field Act, with its intense, but expensive scrutiny; for handing over the Act's requirements to local supervision; or for dispensing with it altogether are cited. 3p.

This product series contains guidelines and related materials for postearthquake evaluation and repair of damaged buildings. Included are all products in the ATC-20 Series and reports prepared under the ATC-43 project. The ATC-20 Series is a set of documents containing guidance for rapid and detailed evaluation of earthquake-damaged buildings to determine if they can be safely occupied. Included are the basic procedures manuals, a field manual, a manual containing case studies of rapid evaluation, a training slide set, and a TechBrief concerning earthquake aftershocks and building safety evaluation. Documents prepared under the ATC-43 project provide guidance on in-depth engineering evaluation and repair of earthquake-damaged mason-wall buildings and concrete-wall buildings.

Presents highlights from visits of Chinese officials to these countries, following this earthquake which disproportionately destroyed schools that were typically not earthquake resistant. Topics of the meetings included 1) how to formulate a comprehensive plan for reconstructing and retrofitting public facilities, 2) how to organize a reconstruction program for public facilities, 3) how to finance earthquake reconstruction and retrofitting programs, 4) how can the financial burden be shared among levels of government, and 5) how to monitor reconstruction efforts.

This is the amended text of additions to the California Educational Code that relates to seismic retrofitting of schools and to funding of the same. 3p.

Discusses the extreme vulnerability of schools in this earthquake-prone country. A program to survey and assess school buildings, implement risk reduction, and to train students, teachers, local masons, and the community on seismic safety is described. 8p.

Discusses emergency management standards for school use and lists standards recommended by FEMA's National Incident Management System (NIMS). 2p.

Presents a framework of guiding principles and general steps to develop a plan to address the disaster resilient construction and retrofitting of school buildings. The guidance notes consist of four components: 1) General information and advocacy points addressing the need and rationale for safer school buildings, along with success stories and list a number of essential guiding principles and strategies for overcoming common challenges. 2) A series of suggested steps that highlight key points that should be considered when planning a safer school construction and/or retrofitting initiative. Each step describes the processes, notes important decision points, highlights key issues or potential challenges, and suggests good practices, tools to facilitate the actions, and references resources to guide the reader to more detailed and context-specific information. 3)A compilation of basic design principles to identify some basic requirements a school building must meet to provide a greater level of protection. 4) A broad list of references to resources for more detailed, technical and context-specific information. 142p.

Discusses efforts made to seismically retrofit New Delhi's Ludlow Castle School. STructural and non-structural modifications are described, as are intentions to replicate these modifications at other government schools in Delhi. 3p.

Describes the project on "Reducing Vulnerability of School Children to Earthquakes" that took place in four countries – Uzbekistan, Fiji, India and Indonesia. The project aimed to ensure that school children living in seismic regions have earthquake resilient schools and that local communities build capacities to cope with earthquake disasters. The project had the following key components: school retrofitting; disaster education, capacity building and raising awareness. Summarizes the good practices and lessons learned from the project countries and also highlights the task ahead to up-scale from model projects to countrywide activities on school safety. 94p.

A team of engineers has re-evaluated the threat earthquakes pose to more than 500 British Columbia schools and determined 152 remain at high risk and will need structural upgrades to make them safe. The total cost of the repairing the 152 high-risk schools has been estimated at $1.3 billion dollars. The remaining schools have been classified as medium or low risk, meaning they can be made safe without structural upgrades.

Explains a State Allocation board decision to allow districts to seek seismic money if they could prove catastrophic risk from ground shaking, earthquake faults, liquefaction or landslides. If a school district decides to use the ground-shaking option when applying, it would only need a licensed structural engineer's report deeming the buildings unsafe, according to recently published state documents. However, if a district chooses to apply based on fault, liquefaction or landslide dangers, it would need to pay upfront for a structural engineer's examination, a geologist's field study and a review from the state geologist's office – an expensive proposition to qualify for financial aid.

In the Mid-South, the Wasatch Front, and the Pacific Northwest, hundreds of thousands of children attend classes in buildings not designed to protect them on the day that local faults decide to slip. Describes actions taken by Utah and Oregon to gauge the risk.

Case study of the Ocean and Coastal Studies Building at Texas A&M University-Galveston. Built on the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast, the design team made every effort to minimize environmental impacts through hurricane/storm resistant design. Includes a full description of strategies to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Profiles simple schools constructed in developing, disaster-stricken, or otherwise challenged areas. These include a prototype two-room school facility built in many Haitian locations where the 2010 earthquake had destroyed existing schools, a secondary school in Burkina Faso, and Florida child care centers that serve migrant populations. Use of readily-obtainable materials, natural light and ventilation, and economy figure significantly in every facility.

School buildings have suffered disproportionate damage during past and recent earthquakes. For example, during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, many school buildings collapsed, resulting in loss of life. School buildings in many other parts of the world are also susceptible to this type of widespread damage because of inadequate design, detailing, or poor construction quality. The purpose of this paper is to show how these fatal flaws can be mitigated prior to future catastrophe by using good engineering practice to retrofit vulnerable schools. [Authors' abstract]

Millions of U.S. children attend schools that are not safe from earthquakes, even though they are in earthquake-prone zones. Several cities and states have worked to identify and repair unsafe buildings, but many others have done little or nothing to fix the problem. The reasons for ignoring the problem include political and financial ones, but also simply denying there is a problem.

Profiles the conversion of a former factory into San Francisco's Friends School, addressing the organization of the building, seismic retrofitting, preservation of certain detailing, and installation of natural ventilation towers.

Profiles the University of Southern California's new School of Cinematic Arts. The modern interpretation of the early 20th-century California style blends with existing campus architecture. Details that contribute to the facilitys intended 100-year lifespan are described, with emphasis on sustainability and seismic stability.

Profiles this large Los Angeles high school that was built on the site where construction of a replacement for Belmont High School was halted in 1999 due to methane seepage and an earthquake fault line running through the site. The new facility addresses the geological concerns, retains some of the original construction, and offers a library and auditorium for community use.

Civil engineers using a specialized laboratory at Purdue University have demonstrated the effectiveness of a simple, inexpensive method to strengthen buildings that have a flaw making them dangerously vulnerable to earthquakes.