Federal Manager's Daily Report

About 40 percent of federally-owned and -leased buildings are in areas where very strong to extreme shaking from earthquakes could occur, and while some steps toward reducing the risk to the properties and employees working in them have been taken more are needed, GAO has said.

It said agencies identified buildings deemed to be at “exceptionally high risk” as part of a government-wide effort in the 1990’s, but neither GSA nor DoD–the two agencies responsible for the majority of at-risk buildings–have a complete current inventory, although GSA has started creating one.

“In addition, while DoD and GSA have taken some steps to reduce the seismic risk of their buildings through seismic retrofits, disposals, and low-cost mitigation alternatives, GAO observed gaps in the extent to which these agencies have comprehensively implemented these mitigation measures, such as securing furniture. Until they fully identify their EHR buildings and prioritize and implement comprehensive safety measures, DoD and GSA will be unable to fully understand and address the vulnerabilities of their buildings,” a report said.

It added that while the U.S. Geological Survey has an early warning system called ShakeAlert, there are funding and other problems hampering its broad use by federal agencies, which could be addressed by developing a program management plan.

GAO said that USGS, GAO and DoD agreed with its recommendations to address its findings.