Observed damage in public school buildings during the 2017 Mexico earthquakes

Abstract

<jats:p> In September 2017, two major earthquakes struck south and central Mexico. These earthquakes produced widespread damage in public and private school infrastructure. In Mexico, all school buildings are classified as essential infrastructure and are expected to attain an immediate occupancy performance level after major earthquakes. However, there is a large variation in the quality of the design and construction practices of these buildings due to age of construction, material quality and availability, and great socioeconomic gaps around the country. In this article, an analysis of the observed damage in public school buildings is presented. The results are analyzed depending on the structural system, construction material, and year of construction. The results showed that damage intensity in seismically designed buildings was significantly lower than that observed in the pre-1985 structures. Load bearing and infill masonry walls were the most damaged structural elements. </jats:p>

Assessment of the seismic safety of school buildings in Mexico: A first look

“…The impact of the needs of innovative educational environments and methods (new teaching techniques and models) on school infrastructure should be assessed and included in the design and construction requirements. e. Guide for construction and construction inspection of school campuses: as it was mentioned in the companion article (Alcocer et al 2020), the substandard performance was observed because of inadequate inspection of buildings during construction; the ''short column'' effect is a prime example. To reverse this situation, a guide and outreach efforts on school inspection during construction is proposed.…”

“…Requirements and specifications for most common construction materials, systems, methods, and procedures should be included. f. Guide for maintenance and conservation of school buildings: as it was mentioned in Alcocer et al (2020), school buildings with adequate maintenance exhibited superior seismic performance compared with those with poor maintenance. Moreover, buildings with modifications to structural elements and/or layout without proper technical review and approval also showed more damage.…”

“…The dynamic characteristics of 14 structures were measured using ambient vibration testing. Measured buildings included five structures tested by the Mexican National Institute for Electricity and Clean Energies and two by a group of American researchers who visited Mexico under the sponsorship of the US National Science Foundation (Alcocer et al, 2018).…”

“…During field visits, it was also found that school authorities, teachers, parents, and students had not been thoroughly informed about the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts being carried out, nor the extent and expected duration of the interventions. Such lack of information had contributed to anxiety and doubts about the governmental efforts (Alcocer et al, 2018).…”

“…From these lessons, technical and policy conclusions and recommendations are described. Detailed information of the assessment project may be found elsewhere (Alcocer et al, 2018). This project was a landmark effort in Mexico because, for the first time, a comprehensive data gathering and analysis project on the seismic performance of school buildings was developed.…”