Executive Summary

This report is the product of an ad hoc experts’ meeting held at the OECD in Paris from 9 to 11 February 2004 on earthquake safety in schools. The meeting was organised by the OECD Programme on Educational Building (PEB) and GeoHazards International (GHI), a non-governmental organisation comprised of specialists in earthquakes and earthquake risk in academic, business and government sectors in the United States and Japan. The aim of the organisers was to initiate an activity that would improve earthquake safety in schools and education systems. The motivation was simple: schools frequently collapse during earthquakes and will continue to do so unless individuals, communities, scientists, governments and other bodies discuss and devise solutions to address the problem. The expert knowledge, opinions and experiences presented in this report provide valuable ...