Dominican Republic launches seismic safety assessment for 6,000 schools

In the Dominican Republic, the government has launched the Technical Registry of School Infrastructure (RT-DIE 2026) to assess the seismic vulnerability of public schools. This inter-institutional initiative, involving the Directorate of School Infrastructure (DIE), the National Office for Seismic Evaluation (ONESVIE), and the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (CODIA), aims to evaluate approximately 6,000 schools. Many of these structures were built before current seismic codes were implemented and often lack soil studies.

The pilot phase of the registry will cover 1,103 schools in the provinces of Santiago, La Vega, and Puerto Plata. The goal is to gather technical data on structural and geotechnical conditions to prioritize maintenance, repairs, or structural reinforcement. This move follows reports indicating that many previous safety recommendations for vulnerable schools remained unaddressed.

Separately, in Morelos, Mexico, authorities report that at least 25 schools still suffer from structural damage nine years after the 2017 earthquake. These buildings exhibit cracks and fractures in load-bearing walls and beams, leading to restricted access to certain areas while specialized engineering studies are conducted to determine necessary rehabilitations.