Utah To Examine Earthquake Vulnerabilities

A Utah advisory panel is planning on developing a priority list for assessing state buildings that might be vulnerable in an earthquake.

The Utah Seismic Safety Commission plans on finding out what seismic assessments have already been conducted for all of the state’s 3,200 buildings, find any gaps and develop a statewide priority list based on uniform standards.

Nearly six in 10 Utah schools were built before modern seismic standards started being developed in the 1970s. That means many are built of masonry that might not withstand earthquakes. A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Wells, Nev., in February, prompting renewed calls for examining seismic safety in the state’s schools and public buildings.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters