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Major effort needed to reverse apathy about earthquake planning in B.C.: report

All levels of society must work to reverse a deep-seated apathy to earthquake preparedness in B.C., according to a report commissioned by the B.C. government.

Ottawa and Victoria need to give more money and more authority to Emergency Management B.C. and local governments so they can fulfil their responsibility to prepare for what scientists say is an inevitable major quake, said the report released Thursday. And more money and staff are needed for a long-term, sustained public education campaign.

“On the whole, British Columbians, and the majority of their institutions, have either not made earthquake preparedness a priority, or have been unable to make significant progress on addressing this issue,” said the report, written by Henry Renteria, former head of California’s Office of Emergency Services.

He was appointed a year ago to consult the public and governments on the issue.

Renteria noted that his findings are consistent with a provincial auditor general’s report released in March 2014, and added that “the majority of the preparedness gaps and recommendations outlined in previous reports appear to remain valid today.”

The auditor general had warned: “Given the province’s current level of preparedness, a sustained commitment . . . is needed if we are going to minimize the loss of life and other devastating impacts expected from a catastrophic earthquake.”

The Ministry of Justice issued a news release Thursday insisting it is taking “significant strides toward improving disaster preparedness in B.C.”

The province cited, in part, a recent upgrade to the Provincial Emergency Notification System to get tsunami notifications faster to emergency managers in B.C.’s coastal communities and media so that citizens can be alerted.

This spring, the province will study the 911 service, including a look at emerging communications technologies, and will launch a public education campaign to “inform and empower” residents to be prepared for emergencies and disasters.

Ocean Networks Canada will receive $50,000 to support research for tsunami mapping to assist long-term planning in vulnerable communities.

Other recommendations of the Renteria report:

– The province must get the private sector involved in emergency management planning, including setting out legal requirements.

– There needs to be better analysis of structures and areas at risk in an earthquake by the province, local authorities, the private sector, First Nations and the public.

– There must be more spending on improving ways to communicate with the public in an emergency, including 911 improvements.

– There must be a higher emphasis, including money, on preparing urban search and rescue teams, and setting up systems to allow for rapid damage assessment.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Changes+needed+reverse+apathy+earthquake+preparedness+report/10922967/story.html

Earthquake hits off Vancouver Island coast

An earthquake hit about 150 kilometres south of Port Hardy, B.C. just after the lunch hour on Wednesday — but it was far enough out in the ocean that it likely didn’t so much as rattle dishes on land.

The quake measured 4.9 magnitude, which is considered relatively light, however, that number often changes upon review.

No damage or injuries have been reported as a result of today’s quake, according to Earthquakes Canada.

Anything between 2.5 and 5.4 can be felt but almost always cause only minor damage.

There are about 30,000 similar earthquakes felt worldwide every year and coastal North America is a hotspot.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/earthquake-hits-off-vancouver-island-coast-1.3009499

Earthquake measuring 4.9 strikes off Vancouver Island

A minor earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 struck about 168 kilometres west of Port Hardy on the northwest tip of Vancouver island around 12:35 a.m. PT Wednesday, but no damage was reported.

The Earthquakes Canada website said damage is unlikely from a quake of that magnitude.

Earthquakes are common off the west coast of British Columbia and sometime come in groups or so called swarms, but experts say the smaller quakes are not signs that a bigger quake is more likely to occur.

CBC seismologist Johanna Wagstaffe said the recent quake was about 15 kilometres deep.

“This seems to be a crustal earthquake within the Juan de Fuca plate of the Cascadia subduction zone. Several hundred of these types of quakes happen per year as the Juan de Fuca plate attempts to slide under the North America plate,” Wagstaffe said.

Other recent tremblors in the region include a 3.4 magnitude quake just inland of Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast that was felt in Vancouver, and a 4.5 magnitude quake near the southern end of Haida Gwaii on Jan 25, which was felt by some residents on the islands.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/earthquake-measuring-4-9-strikes-off-vancouver-island-1.2981469

Magnitude 3.4 earthquake strikes B.C. coast, felt in Sechelt and Nanaimo

It turns out that romance wasn’t the only thing some B.C. residents were feeling on Valentine’s Day.

At about 8:12 p.m. PT, a small 3.4 magnitude earthquake struck about 30 kilometres northeast of Sechelt, B.C.

Earthquakes Canada says it was lightly felt throughout the Sunshine Coast, from Sechelt to Powell River, as well as in Nanaimo.

Source: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/magnitude-34-earthquake-strikes-bc-coast-felt-in-sechelt-and-nanaimo/45575/

Megaquake would crumble BC Ferries terminals, says engineer Ray Hebden

Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast could be cut off from food and emergency supplies in the event of a massive earthquake, unless BC Ferries upgrades its terminals, says the president of an engineering firm.

The island and the coastal communities are almost entirely dependent on BC Ferries as a transportation link to the mainland, said Ray Hebden of Hebden Engineering, who will give a public presentation on the issue on Wednesday.

In the event of a mega earthquake, terminals such as the one at Tsawwassen, which is built on soft alluvial soil, will likely crumble, he said.

“Our normal supply of food, commodities that we depend on is interrupted, plus all of the materials and equipment and specialized personnel required to rebuild after an earthquake,” he told On The Island.

“To respond to that, the first thing to do is get essential corridors opened again between population centres … all that all has to be done with equipment and forces that one can mobilize.

“If you can’t get those forces to the island to respond, then you have double problem.”

Are floating berths the answer?

Hebden is calling on BC Ferries to commission two new floating berths, similar to one built by his own company at Swartz Bay in 2006.

“Effectively the ground can shake and that mass stays inert,” he said.

Hebden says he has presented the idea to BC Ferries, but was told it can’t fund the proposal. BC Ferries was not immediately available for comment.

Hebden will be making a presentation, Earthquake Vulnerabilities of Ferry Links for Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, at the North Saanich Municipal Hall on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/megaquake-would-crumble-bc-ferries-terminals-says-engineer-ray-hebden-1.2953848

Fracking-induced earthquake puts B.C. gas bonanza on shaky ground

The small town of Fox Creek in northern Alberta may have broken the world’s ‘fracking earthquake’ record with the 4.4-magnitude shaker that hit last month.

The most probable cause, according to Alberta’s energy regulator, was nearby gas fracking operations. The recent quake was on many people’s mind as they listened to a presentation in Ottawa on the shale gas “bonanza” happening across North America today.

Fracking and earthquakes

“There seems to be a link between the volume of water [used in fracking] and seismic activity,” Denis Lavoie, a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) told an audience of parliamentarians, experts and the general public in Ottawa during a presentation yesterday.

The talk was part of the ‘Bacon & Eggheads’ monthly morning lecture series put on by the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE) at Parliament’s Centre Block.

In his presentation, The Shale Gas Bonanza: Opportunities and Challenges, Lavoie confirmed fracking operations in British Columbia and Alberta have been “known to cause small seismic events.”

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking to access unconventional sources of natural gas like shale gas involves digging underground wells 200 to 3,000 meters vertically and another 1,000 meters or more horizontally to penetrate the rock-like shale.

Pressurized water mixed with hundreds of toxic substances (including hydrochloric acid, mercury and formaldehyde) is shot down the well to break apart the shale and push the natural gas to the surface.

A single fracking well consumes anywhere between seven to twenty-three million litres of water.

Lavoie believes the vast quantities of water industry injects into the ground is the “most likely candidate” for increasing the frequency and intensity of earthquakes in areas near fracking wells.

To demonstrate his point, Lavoie used fracking projects in northeastern B.C.’s Horn River Basin as his case study.

As long as monthly water injections at fracking wells remained around 100,000 cubic meters in the Horn River Basin, seismic activity did not increase beyond a magnitude of three. By 2010, as more fracking wells came online, water usage hit one million cubic meters— and earthquakes regularly went beyond magnitude three, peaking at 3.6.

When asked by Alberta MP Leon Benoit whether this seismic activity was problematic, Lavoie said earthquakes connected to Canadian fracking operations have not reached a magnitude yet where they could cause damage on the surface. Magnitudes of five and upwards can cause damage, according to Lavoie.

Fracking’s environmental impacts: short on data

Five thousand trillion cubic feet of natural gas are locked in shale in Canada, most of which is in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Not all of it is recoverable. Canada currently averages a twenty to twenty-five per cent recovery rate. If public opposition against fracking continues to grow, this recovery rate could drop even further.

“Assessing the environmental challenges to development is prerequisite to the social license,” Lavoie said.

Many of the other pressing “environmental challenges” that have come to light through a decade of fracking in B.C. and Alberta were not addressed in detail during the presentation.

Lavoie did state there was a definite need to collect baseline data before shale gas development takes place, echoing the findings of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) in 2014:

“There is reason to believe that shale gas development poses a risk to water resources, but the extent of that risk, and whether substantial damage has already occurred, cannot be assessed because of a lack of scientific data and understanding,” the report concluded. The report was commissioned and released by Environment Canada on May 1, 2014.

B.C. only has 10 monitoring stations overseeing the operations of thousands of fracking wells.

Source: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/fracking-induced-earthquake-puts-bc-gas-bonanza-shaky-ground

Earthquake rattles B.C. coastline near Haida Gwaii

HAIDA GWAII, B.C. — A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Haida Gwaii, B.C., on Sunday afternoon.

There have been no reports of damage and a tsunami is not expected.

The quake hit at around 1:10 p.m. just west of the archipelago, and about 88 kilometres south of the Village of Queen Charlotte.

Hundreds of earthquakes have hit British Columbia or its coastline over the past month, although most are not felt by residents.

One 4.6-magnitude quake that struck near Tofino, on Jan. 8 was felt by occupants of the small tourist town, as was a 5.4-magnitude tremor on Jan. 2 near Port Hardy, B.C.

At least one B.C. seismologist says there’s a one in 10 chance that Vancouver Island will be hit by a major earthquake in the next 50 years.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Earthquake+rattles+coastline+near+Haida+Gwaii/10759343/story.html

B.C. megathrust earthquake: people unprepared despite warnings

There have been many warnings about a large-scale earthquake expected off Vancouver Island within the next 50 years, but according to an environmental psychologist, people aren’t preparing for it.

“The people who live in higher risk areas do know they’re living in a higher risk area but they don’t take any more precautions than the people who are living on safer ground,” University of Victoria professor and environmental psychologist Robert Gifford told On The Island’s Gregor Craigie.

Gifford said only a small portion of people are in denial about the actual possibility of an earthquake, but many are just putting off planning for its eventuality.

“Everybody knows they should eat better or exercise, but not everybody does it.”

Others may not be preparing because a natural disaster like an earthquake is so far out of their control.

“You can’t stop the earthquake, but what such people should understand is there are things you can do to mitigate the damage to yourself, your family, other people,” he said.

Gifford said preparation doesn’t need to be all-consuming.

“I guess if you’ve done whatever you can … then I think it’s time to take it easy and engage in your life in a nice Victorian way.”

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-megathrust-earthquake-people-unprepared-despite-warnings-1.2920152

Megathrust earthquake off B.C. coast extremely likely but might not strike for centuries

A massive megathrust earthquake off the coast of B.C. — along with a tsunami — is a near certainty, experts say, but nailing down when it will hit is impossible to predict.

It could be centuries, in fact.

This powerful type of temblor was responsible for the devastation in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and Japan in 2011.

“The odds of it happening today are small,” says Simon Peacock, professor and dean of science at University of British Columbia, “but the odds of it happening in 500 years is incredibly high.”

There have been 19 similar events over the last 10,000 years, Peacock said, and the last time a megathrust earthquake struck off the West Coast was in 1700.

However, they don’t occur with regularity, so one could happen next year — or maybe not — for hundreds of years.

1. What is a megathrust earthquake?

A megathrust earthquake is caused by a sudden slip along the fault between two tectonic plates when one has been forced under another.

In the case of the West Coast, it is the Juan de Fuca plate that is moving eastward underneath the North America plate at a rate of a few centimetres per year.

John Clague, Canada research chair in natural hazard research, said the motion is curling the edge of the North America plate upwards, much the same way a rug would buckle if you pushed on one edge.

This puts a huge amount of strain on the fault until eventually, the North America plate “elastically bounces back,” causing the earthquake and creating the tsunami, Clague said.

The boundary between the Juan de Fuca and North America plate is called the Cascadia fault, which runs from the northern tip of Vancouver Island all the way down to the northern tip of California.

2. Which communities are most at risk?

In the event of a megathrust earthquake, the whole area would first experience very strong ground shaking that could cause damage to infrastructure, and then a short time later, there would be be a tsunami, Peacock said.

“It’s a one-two punch,” he said.

The western coast of Vancouver Island, including communities like Tofino, would bear the brunt of any large tsunami waves, which would form a natural barrier and help to shelter major population centres like Victoria and Vancouver.

Clague said it’s difficult to predict with any certainty but the west coast of Vancouver Island could experience tsunami waves between five and 10 metres high, possibly within 20 minutes of the event.

Victoria could experience waves between three and five metres more than an hour later, and Vancouver could experience waves as high as one or two metres, Clague said.

3. How would people be warned?

Alerting the public about the risk of a tsunami falls to Emergency Management BC, which receives information from the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

Officials determine if there is a tsunami risk and issue the appropriate warnings to various communities by contacting local emergency co-ordinators, first responders like police and fire, and local media.

The actual business of ensuring news reaches individuals within affected communities depends on the emergency plan of each community, says Chris Duffy, executive director of operations and recovery transition with Emergency Management BC.

This can include phone, email or fax messages, as well as sirens and even officials going door to door. Social media has also played an increasingly important role over the last few years, he said.

Residents of affected communities would then head for specified higher ground or designated emergency shelters.

Emergency Management BC says people should remain there until they are given the all-clear. The first wave of a tsunami may not be the largest and several more could follow in the hours after an earthquake.

4. How should you prepare?

Duffy said there is no one-size-fits-all approach to these evacuations, so it is important for people to be aware of their own community’s plan.

Emergency Management BC also urges person or family to have a specific plan and a store of emergency supplies, including food and water, that can last three days.

In the event of a massive megathrust earthquake, the first warning signs would be the temblor itself. During the quake in 1700, scientists believe the area may have shaken for several minutes.

That should be enough warning for people to start carrying out their individual plans, Duffy said.

“If you’re in an exposed coastal community and you feel the ground shake violently for a minute, don’t wait for a phone call from a government officer,” Duffy said. “I mean, that is your alert.”

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/megathrust-earthquake-off-b-c-coast-extremely-likely-but-might-not-strike-for-centuries-1.2917937