Puerto Rico Opens Only 20% of Schools Amid Ongoing Quakes
Overall, engineers have inspected 561 of the island’s 856 public schools, finding at least 50 too unsafe to reopen, leaving some 240,000 students out of school for now
•
FILE – In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, file photo, people whose homes are unsafe to enter after the previous day’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake line up for lunch in an outdoor area of the Bernardino Cordero Bernard High School, which is being used as a shelter despite no electricity in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico opened only 20% of its public schools on Tuesday following a strong earthquake that delayed the start of classes by nearly three weeks as fears linger over the safety of students.
Puerto Rico opened only 20% of its public schools on Tuesday following a strong earthquake that delayed the start of classes by nearly three weeks as fears linger over the safety of students.
Only 177 schools were certified to open after engineers inspected them for damage caused by the magnitude-6.4 earthquake that killed one person and damaged hundreds of homes on Jan. 7. But the inspections were not to determine whether a school could withstand another strong earthquake or had structural shortcomings such as short columns that make it vulnerable to collapse, further worrying parents.
“Of course I am afraid,” said 38-year-old Marién Santos, who attended an open house on Monday at her son’s Ramón Vilá Mayo high school in the suburb of Río Piedras where officials gave her a copy of the inspection report and evacuation plans.
Her concerns were echoed by the director of the school, Elisa Delgado. While she believes engineers did a thorough inspection of the school, built in the early 1900s, they warned her not to use the main entrance in an evacuation because it leads to an area filled with gas lines. The problem is that the other exits are too narrow to handle the school’s 450 students, she told The Associated Press.
“It’s not ideal,” she said.
Overall, engineers have inspected 561 of the island’s 856 public schools, finding at least 50 too unsafe to reopen, leaving some 240,000 students out of school for now. Ongoing tremors also are forcing crews to automatically re-inspect schools following any quake of 3.0 magnitude or higher, according to Puerto Rico’s Infrastructure Financing Authority.
Recent 2.5+ Magnitude Earthquakes Near Puerto Rico
Since the 6.4 quake, there have been several strong aftershocks, including a 5.9 magnitude one that hit on Jan. 11 and a 5.0 that struck on Saturday. The biggest quake flattened the top two floors of a three-story school in the southern coastal city of Guánica on Jan. 7, two days before classes were scheduled to start.
Overall, experts say that some 500 public schools in Puerto Rico were built before 1987 and don’t meet new construction codes. A plan to retrofit all schools that need it, an estimated 756 buildings, would cost up to $2.5 billion, officials have said, noting those are preliminary figures.
Education Secretary Eligio Hernández noted that another 51 schools are scheduled to start classes on Feb. 3 and that his department is reviewing recommendations on how best to proceed with the other schools.
“The Department of Education is going to take the time it needs and will take all necessary actions so that parents ... feel satisfied,” he told reporters on Monday.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
Cars drive through an area heavily affected by a landslide after a powerful earthquake hit the island in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Jan. 12, 2020. A 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico on January 11, the latest in a series of powerful tremors that have shaken the U.S. territory in recent days.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
People arrive with supplies for affected residents in Guanica, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 12, 2020, after a powerful earthquake hit the island. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico on January 11, the latest in a series of powerful tremors that have shaken the U.S. territory in recent days.
Xavier Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A person inspects rubble and destroyed power lines in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. Puerto Rico was hit by a series of earthquakes over the past 15 days, leading to a state of emergency, various power outages and millions of dollars of damage.
Xavier Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Caterpillar Inc. excavator sits on a destroyed bridge in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. Puerto Rico was hit by a series of earthquakes over the past 15 days, leading to a state of emergency, various power outages and millions of dollars of damage.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
A barber gives free haircuts to people at a shelter in Guanica, Puerto Rico on Jan. 12, 2020, after a powerful earthquake hit the island. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico on January 11, the latest in a series of powerful tremors that have shaken the U.S. territory in recent days.
Carlos Giusti/AP
William Mercuchi’s house sits damaged after a 6.4 earthquake hit Yauco, Puerto Rico, the day before, as seen in this Jan. 8, 2020, photo.
Carlos Giusti/AP
A building collapses after the previous day’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Yauco, Puerto Rico, Jan. 8, 2020. More than 250,000 Puerto Ricans remained without water on Wednesday and another half a million without power.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Maritza Quiñones Rodriguez, 51, cries as she and other neighbors remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Paramedics assist a man suffering from seizures as he and neighbors remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks on their first night after an earthquake in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Volunteers distribute food to neighbors who remain outdoors using camping tents and portable lights for fear of possible aftershocks after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Neighbors place Martin Velez, 96, on a bed outside a shelter after an earthquake struck in Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Store owners and family help remove supplies from Ely Mer Mar hardware store, which partially collapsed after an earthquake struck Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn on Tuesday, killing one man, injuring others and collapsing buildings in the southern part of the island.
Ricard Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the island – the latest in a series of tremors that have shaken the island since December 28.
Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view of damages at Guanica town after 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Jan. 7, 2020.
Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view of damages at Guanica town after 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Jan. 7, 2020.
Ricard Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020.
Ricard Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
The Inmaculada Concepcion church, built in 1841, is seen partially collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020.
RICARDO ARDUENGO
Paramedics carry away an injured patient after a earthquake hit the island in Ponce, Puerto Rico on Jan. 7, 2020. Eight people were hurt from the latest quake, with one man dead.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
A man carries a St. Jude statue from the Inmaculada Concepcion church ruins that was built in 1841 and collapsed after an earthquake hit the island in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 7, 2020. A strong earthquake struck south of Puerto Rico early Tuesday morning – the latest in a series of tremors that have shaken the island since December 28. The shallow 6.4 magnitude quake struck five miles south of the community of Indios, the USGS said.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Debris from a collapsed wall of a building litters the ground after an earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Carlos Giusti/AP
Amir Seneriz, president of the Logia Aurora Organization, inspects damages after an earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Courtesy Fabián Torres
A damaged wall crumbles in Yauco, Puerto Rico, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Courtesy Fabián Torres
Cracks appeared on a damaged building in Yauco, Puerto Rico, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
San Juan is plunged in darkness after a 6.4 earthquake rattled Puerto Rico early Jan. 7, 2020, leaving the island largely without power.
Courtesy Jesus Ramos
San Juan sits in darkness after power is knocked out following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Puerto Rico Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Courtesy Jorge Torres Ramos
Products scatter on the floor of a damaged grocery store in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Tuesday morning on Jan. 7, 2019.
Telemundo Puerto Rico
A damaged house sits in Guanica, Puerto Rico, after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit off the southern coast of Puerto Rico on Monday morning, Jan. 6, 2019.
Telemundo Puerto Rico
Guanica, Puerto Rico, residents survey a felled utility pole after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit off the southern coast of Puerto Rico on Monday morning, Jan. 6, 2019.
Elba Aponte, president of Puerto Rico’s Association of Teachers, told the AP that she has received complaints and pictures from parents and school employees of at least 10 schools that are reopening but that they feel are still unsafe.
Most of the pictures are of cracks in the walls and roofs of those schools, she said.
“Their concerns are quite valid,” Aponte said, adding that she would share them with the island’s education secretary.
Meanwhile, school and government officials are trying to figure out what to do with the roughly 240,000 students who aren’t able to go to school yet, either because their building was deemed unsafe or has not yet been inspected. No schools in the island’s southern and southwest region will reopen for now, officials say.
Options include placing students in other schools with revised schedules or holding classes in refurbished trailers or outdoors under tarps, Aponte said as she lamented the situation.
“It’s terrible,” she said. “If there was one place where they could feel safe, it was at school.”
