DNR Survey: Fife HS more susceptible than previously thought to collapsing during major quake

FIFE, Wash. — Simply put: the softer the soil, the slower the seismic waves move through it, the greater the earthquake damage.

That’s why the Washington State Department of Natural Resources said it’s concerned about what a team of researchers found after testing the soil underneath Fife High School last month – the ground it sits on is far softer than the state previously assumed, raising the likelihood that the school will be greatly damaged, possibly collapse, during a major earthquake.

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake or higher could cause the school’s foundation to shift, or worse, according to DNR spokesperson Joe Smillie.

He shared with KIRO 7 new information that shows the ground Fife High School sits on is now considered to be in an entirely different – less sturdy – class of soils based on a recently completed seismic survey, increasing the chance the ground underneath the school would be violently shaken into a potentially catastrophic, liquid-like state during an earthquake.

It’s one of 220 schools that a team of researchers from the Washington Geological Survey, which is under the DNR, and private engineers are inspecting across the state. This includes examining how solid the ground is and how structurally sound the school buildings are.

“Impossible to say what (Fife High School) would do (in an earthquake) without looking at the plans; but it’s safe to say – given the age of construction, it does not meet current building safety codes,” said Smillie.

KIRO 7 asked for the results of the structural inspection at Fife High School, but Smillie said engineers were not yet ready to release them.

He said It’s the first time the state has ever collected actual measurements of the soil. It previously relied on assumptions from older geology methods.

“How close an area is to faults; earthquake history, and then what past mapping efforts have found about the geology, meaning determining the rocks and soil that make up the area,” said Smillie. “We’ve mapped out most of the state’s geology over the past hundred years, but most of that was done with 2-D models since the technology wasn’t there.”

Researchers are now using seismic surveys that involve hitting a plate on the ground with a sledgehammer and using technology to analyze the sound waves to learn more about the layers of earth underneath.

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“The soils (at Fife High School) were deposited by the Puyallup River, Ice Age glacier melt and volcanic deposits from past lahars coming off Mount Rainier over the past couple million years or so,” said Smillie.

Nearly 800 students attend Fife High School, which is made up of a several buildings that were built between 1950 and 1983, according to the DNR, and last renovated in 1992.

That work didn’t include seismic retrofit.

Researchers and engineers, working with Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, are now moving quickly to come up with a more accurate list that prioritizes which schools need retrofits and where to find funding. 20 schools will be selected for conceptual plans and work is expected to finish next June.

The DNR said 72-percent of Washington’s public schools are within a “high to very high seismic hazard zone.” Fife High School falls into the “very high” range and is close to several faults, including the Tacoma Fault and Western Rainier Seismic Zone fault.

Cox Media Group