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Newsletter
School Seismic Vulnerability Assessments & Engineers’ Training
Westernmost Nepal, is threatened by a major earthquake that most of its buildings, including most schools, have not been designed or built to withstand. This places schoolchildren at great risk, and common school construction practices need to be made safer.
Field training for local engineers on seismic vulnerability assessments of buildings.
In alignment with action plans developed under earthquake scenarios for three districts in westernmost Nepal, GHI led an effort to better understand the extent of school vulnerability in the region. The team selected Amargadhi Municipality in Dadeldhura district as the pilot area for further study.
GHI in partnership with the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) provided a multi-day training for local engineers on seismic vulnerability assessments of buildings. After the training, the engineers then assessed all schools within Amargadhi Municipality to better understand the extent of school vulnerability in the region. GHI’s engineer based in Amargadhi led the local assessment activities, which included visual inspection of the school buildings, site visits, and field interviews with relevant people who know the schools well. Municipal engineers also participated in part of the local assessment activities.
The earthquake vulnerability assessment of 170 school buildings in Amargadhi was carried out by physical field observation and by desk study of gathered information. The project team identified and documented hazards affecting the site and buildings of each school campus, building typology, and vulnerability factors of the buildings. Findings indicate a vast number of vulnerable schools, with close to 90% of all school buildings needing to be either strengthened or rebuilt.
As a follow-on effort, we constructed an earthquake-resistant school in the region that integrated training for local masons. You can read more about that here: https://www.geohaz.org/post/building-a-school-building-resilience
This effort was made possible with funding from the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers (IABSE) Foundation. Amargadhi Municipality and the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) were key partners in this work.