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News Release

Contact:    Robin Maxey                                                                  February 17, 2012

                   (503) 986-1605   

                   robin.maxey@state.or.us                                                             

Senate OKs Measure Making School

Seismic Ratings Easier to Access

(SALEM) – Will your child’s school collapse in the event of a major earthquake? State senators voted Tuesday to make that information more readily available to Oregon parents.

Senate Bill 1566 requires that local school districts include as part of their annual district and school performance reports a link to the existing data base on seismic readiness of Oregon schools on the website of the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

The measure passed the Senate on a 30-0 vote. It now heads to the House of Representatives.

“This bill makes sure parents know right where to get this information by putting it in a report they already receive,” said Senate President Peter Courtney, chief sponsor of the bill. “And if parents learn that their child’s school is unsafe, they’re going to want to see the school upgraded.”

Courtney has been the chief proponent of investing in seismic upgrading of Oregon schools and emergency facilities since 2002 when voters approved a ballot measure giving the Legislature the authority to incur more than $1 billion in bonded indebtedness to do so.

To date, however, only $19 million has been awarded to upgrade schools across the state. An additional $11 million has been awarded for retrofitting emergency services facilities.

At one time, it was believed that, unlike California to the south, Oregon wasn’t likely to experience a major earthquake. Then scientists found evidence of a magnitude 9.0 quake that struck off the Oregon coast in January 1700. The data corresponded with Japanese history of a tsunami wave which struck the island nation at the same time.

Subsequent studies have concluded that the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Oregon Coast has been the site of a major earthquake approximately every 300 years for the past 10,000 years. The world’s top seismologists now say Oregon is overdue for quake which could measure as large as magnitude 9.3.

“I hope our state is never devastated by a major earthquake, but scientists say it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ We need to protect our children,” Courtney said.

Note to editors: In August 2011, Outside magazine published an extensive article outlining what scientists believe will happen when a major earthquake strikes the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Oregon Coast.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/Totally-Psyched-for-the-Full-Rip-Nine.html