By Jessica Mallard
While the Jesse Knight Building is under renovation, BYU officials are working to ensure it, and all the buildings on BYU campus, are earthquake prepared.
'All of these buildings were built in accordance with the codes at the time they were constructed, but the codes have changed dramatically over the years,' said Richard Nelson, a BYU structural engineer.
The seismic codes were not implemented until the early 1970s, he said. Therefore, any building built before 1970 is in need of a seismic upgrading if it hasn''t already been seismically enhanced.
'Based on that information, we have undertaken a program on campus where we go in and do seismic renovation work to upgrade the seismic resistance of existing buildings,' Nelson said.
Nelson said 19 buildings have been upgraded on campus and 17 of those have been in the last 12 years. Some of the upgraded buildings include the Maeser Building, Wilkinson Student Center, Harris Fine Arts Center, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Eyring Science Center, David O. McKay Building, Helaman Halls, the BYU Bookstore and the Heber J. Grant Building.
'We have come a long way, and we still have a ways to go to upgrade all the buildings,' he said.
Anytime a building is remodeled it is constructed to current earthquake code standards, said Glen Johns, director of BYU Risk Management and Safety. Seismic work is very intrusive and the perfect time to do it is when a building is being remodeled, Johns said.
'We constantly work to upgrade our facilities and improve safety on campus,' he said. 'But I think it''s up to the individual students to make sure they are living in a safe location.'
Randy Skinner, associate geology professor, said preparation is crucial for BYU.
The Wasatch Fault, which Provo sits on, extends south of Nephi to the Idaho border, Skinner said. As a result of this fault, Utah experiences 70 earthquakes per month. He said although the earthquakes are too small to feel, it does indicate that the fault is very active.
'People may think we are safe because we had an earthquake 600 years ago,' Skinner said. 'Even a major earthquake in Salt Lake could still do considerable damage in Provo - even though the focus of the earthquake was 60 or 100 miles away.'
(For comments, e-mail Jessica Mallard at jessmallard@gmail.com)