Keeping Schools Safe in Earthquakes

School Safety and Security School Safety and Security Keeping Schools Safe in Earthquakes Earthquake-prone communities need earthquake-resistant schools. In 2002, a primary school in San Giuliano, Italy, collapsed killing 29 children and one teacher. In May 2003, a medium-sized earthquake in the city of Bingöl, Turkey, caused the Keeping collapse of three new schools and a dormitory, killing many children as they slept. All too frequently, earthquakes cause the collapse of school buildings and the injury and death of staff and students. Further, when schools are closed because Schools Safe of earthquake damage, education is hampered, community life disrupted, and potential emergency shelters unavailable. Where school attendance is compulsory, in Earthquakes communities have an obligation to provide a safe study and work environment. Why do schools collapse even during moderate earthquakes? Experts agree that many collapse due to avoidable errors in design and construction. Often, the needed technology is not applied and laws and regulations are not sufficiently enforced. Application of existing knowledge can significantly lower the seismic risk of schools and help prevent further injury and death of school occupants during earthquakes. Moreover, this can be accomplished at reasonable cost and within a reasonable period. Keeping Schools Safe in Earthquakes presents expert knowledge, opinions and experiences, and provides valuable insight into the scope of problems involved in protecting schools and their occupants. Its recommendations are a call to action to all governments in OECD and partner countries to help facilitate their implementation. Earthquakes in Safe Schools Keeping OECD’s books, periodicals and statistical databases are now available via www.SourceOECD.org, our online library. This book is available to subscribers to the following SourceOECD themes: Education and Skills Ask your librarian for more details of how to access OECD books on line, or write to us at [email protected] www.oecd.org/edu/schoolsafety www.oecd.org ISBN 92-64-10669-4 �� -:HSTCQE=UV[[^^: 95 2004 02 1 P �� KEEPING SCHOOLS SAFE IN EARTHQUAKES Proceedings of the ad hoc Experts’ Group Meeting on Earthquake Safety in Schools, Paris, 9 to 11 February 2004 FOREWORD The OECD Programme on Educational Building (PEB) is working to keep schools around the world safe in earthquakes. A safe and secure environment is a prerequisite for effective teaching and learning. Threats to the safety and security of people and property can arise from natural hazards – such as earthquakes, fl oods and storms – or from human actions – such as vandalism, arson and violent crime. While catastrophic events and human tragedies cannot be eliminated entirely, their negative impact can be mitigated. As part of the Organisation’s activities on school safety and security, PEB seeks to improve understanding of such issues, to identify appropriate responses and to initiate action. This report is one product of the ad hoc Experts’ Meeting on Earthquake Safety in Schools, organised by PEB and GeoHazards International (GHI) in February 2004 in Paris. Another signifi cant outcome is the recommendations of the experts’ group, which have been submitted to OECD Council for approval by all OECD countries. These recommendations are included in the fi nal chapter of this publication and represent an important step forward in the recognition by governments that greater effort is required to address the urgent problem of improving the safety of schools in earthquakes. OECD work on school safety and security began in February 2002 with an experts’ meeting in Washington, D.C. on “Helping Schools Prepare for and Respond to Terrorist Attacks”, which was organised by PEB and the United States Department of Education (USDOE). PEB and USDOE also held a general conference on school safety and security in Paris in November 2003. This meeting focused on safety and security risk assessment in schools; crisis planning and management; infrastructural approaches to school safety; collaborative approaches to school safety; and education, training and support approaches to school safety (www.oecd.org/edu/schoolsafety). This publication is the result of a collaborative effort between Brian Tucker from GHI, the authors, other meeting experts and the PEB Secretariat. PEB and GHI would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of Wilfred Iwan from the California Institute of Technology to this meeting. The manuscript was prepared by Hannah von Ahlefeld, and editorial assistance was provided by Jill Gaston, both from the PEB Secretariat. © OECD 2004 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Keeping schools safe in earthquakes TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Richard Yelland and Brian Tucker Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... 8 Reader’s guide .............................................................................................................................15 Introduction: Acknowledging the importance of improving earthquake safety in schools ..19 Hannah von Ahlefeld Part I. Recognising the obstacles to improving seismic safety of schools ................ 31 1. Earthquake vulnerability of school buildings in Algeria .............................................35 Fouad Bendimerad 2. Learning about seismic safety of schools from community experience in Berkeley, California 45 Arrietta Chakos 3. Seismic safety of schools in Italy ......................................................................................52 Mauro Dolce 4. Obstacles to improving seismic safety of school buildings in Turkey .....................64 Polat Gülkan 5. Seismic risk in schools: The Venezuelan project ...........................................................88 Oscar A. López, Julio J. Hernández, Gianina Del Re, José Puig and Magnolia Santamaría 6. Towards effective mitigation and emergency response in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ......................................................................................................101 Zoran Milutinovic and Jean-Pierre Massué 7. Making schools safer: The New Zealand experience ..................................................119 Brian Mitchell 8. Damage in schools in the 1998 Faial earthquake in the Azores Islands, Portugal ....131 Jorge Miguel Proença 9. Earthquakes and educational infrastructure policy in Mexico ...............................140 Jaime de la Garza Reyna Part II. Defi ning seismic safety principles for schools .............................................147 10. Fundamental concepts and principles for assuring acceptable performance of schools and the education system .................................................................................149 Dennis Bellet 4 © OECD 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS Keeping schools safe in earthquakes Part III. Assessing vulnerability and risks to schools and other public buildings 155 11. Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule: Measuring the community’s commitment to adopting and enforcing building codes ..........................................157 Dennis Gage 12. Translating earthquake hazard mitigation measures from one country to another: A case study .........................................................................................................................164 Christopher Rojahn 13. Seismic risk mitigation practices in school buildings in Istanbul, Turkey ...........176 Özal Yüzügüllü, Gülay Barbarosoglu and Mustafa Erdik Part IV. Identifying strategies and programmes for improving school seismic safety ..185 14. A brief review of school typologies in Italy: Specifi c vulnerability and possible strategies for seismic retrofi tting ...................................................................................187 Nicola Cosentino, Giovanni Manieri and Andrea Benedetti 15. Implementing school seismic safety programmes in developing countries .........197 Sudhir K. Jain 16. Supporting local seismic experts: Experiences in Nepal and India ........................204 Richard Sharpe 17. Evaluating earthquake retrofi tting measures for schools: A cost-benefi t analysis ..208 A.W. Smyth, G. Deodatis, G. Franco , Y. He and T. Gurvich 18. Strengthening school buildings to resist earthquakes: Progress in European countries 217 Robin Spence Part V. Taking an initial step towards improving earthquake safety in schools: ad hoc Experts’ Group Report on Earthquake Safety in Schools ..............229 Contributors to this publication .......................................................................................239 © OECD 2004 5 PREFACE Schools play a vital role in every community. They are not only the places where students learn and teachers teach; they are also used for social gatherings, theatre and sports. In addition, school buildings play an important role in responding to and recovering from natural disasters. In the event of an earthquake, hurricane or fl ood, schools can serve as emergency shelters and, as such, can be used to house, feed and care for the local population. Earthquake-threatened communities need earthquake-resistant schools. When schools are closed because of earthquake damage, education is hampered, community life disrupted, and emergency shelters unavailable. Where school attendance is compulsory, communities

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