894 Public school buildings in Japan not quake-proofed

August 9, 2019

Tokyo--A total of 894 buildings of public elementary and junior high schools in Japan were not earthquake-proofed as of April 1, down from 978 a year before, an education ministry survey showed Friday.

The proportion of quake-proof such buildings was unchanged at 99.2 pct, the ministry said. A delay in seismic repair work has been seen among schools in small municipalities or expected to be integrated with others, it said.

The survey covered 115,606 school buildings, excluding those in Futaba and Okuma, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

School buildings were fully quake-proofed in the prefectures of Miyagi, Akita, Tochigi, Saitama, Kanagawa, Fukui, Yamanashi, Gifu, Mie, Shiga, Tottori, Kagawa, Kumamoto and Oita.

The proportion of quake-proof buildings was the lowest in Okinawa, at 93.0 pct, followed by Hokkaido, at 96.2 pct, and Ehime, at 96.5 pct.

Measures to prevent collapses of suspended ceilings were in place at 98.9 pct of 32,273 facilities surveyed, up 0.7 percentage point. Jiji Press