Study: Many Utah Schools Unsafe in Quake

January 26, 2011

The Utah Seismic Safety Commission says in a new report a majority of Utah’s public schools do not meet federal standards for earthquake safety.

The Deseret News of Salt Lake City says the commission reviewed 128 school buildings and found 77 did not meet seismic safety standards.

The report was released last week.

The report says 10 buildings would almost certainly collapse in a major earthquake. Forty buildings have a 10 percent chance of collapsing.

Structural engineer Barry Welliver says the study was done using rapid assessments by engineers.

To complete a more comprehensive study, the commission is asking the Legislature for $500,000.