Chapel/Cultural Hall safe during severe weather/earthquakes?

[nathangg]

I recently read this in an stake emergency plan:

"The Chapel and Cultural Hall is not a safe location during times of severe weather or earthquakes"

However, I cannot find an official reference for this. (I've looked in both handbooks and the facilities management guidelines)

Thus, I'm not sure if the statement is true or not. Does anyone have a definitive source on whether the chapel and/or cultural hall would be safe during severe weather and/or earthquake? (e.g., if a tornado warning is issued on mutual night and the weather is extremely unsettled and members are already at the building, is it okay to sit in the cultural hall? I imagine hallways/classrooms without windows would be better... but does it mean the cultural hall is unsafe?)

Thank you~!

[lajackson]

I think it depends on the building, and the FM Group should be able to help local priesthood leaders determine the best course of action based on the expected weather elements in a particular local area. For example, the cultural hall in one building where we lived would have been a safe location, but the cultural hall where we live now has glass on every side and would be the last place I would want to be during inclement weather that threatened the building.

With so many different types and construction of meetinghouses, I am not sure it would be possible to even generalize a safe location by anyone other than the local leaders and building managers.

[kisaac]

I think it depends on the building

And the determination of qualified engineer examinations of the structural design, condition, age, etc. Our chapel was recently gutted and then reinforced to be structurally stronger, but logic tells me that a place smaller with less glass and weight above me might be a better "first choice" in an earthquake or serve storm.
I suspect that same logic might be what your emergency plan was saying....your stake could have access to actual engineering data on their buildings, if you wish to make an inquiry.