VANCOUVER, March 22 (Bernama) -- After the destructive and deadly earthquake
in north-eastern Japan that triggered off an equally catastrophic tsunami and
nuclear crisis, there is yet another potentially Big One striking any time in
the Pacific North West, which includes Canada’s popular British Columbia (BC).
Earth sciences experts here said ‘it will happen’ amid heightened concerns
here and other US cities that dot the Pacific Coastline.
Their question is often on when, not if, the next major earthquake would
strike in the wake of the triple disasters that unfolded in Japan the last
fortnight or so, and more recently in New Zealand.
Nobody knows for sure when that will happen. What is certain is that the
Pacific North West is long overdue for another huge earthquake with grave
consequences as it is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire".
"For the last 20 years, we have been preparing Vancouver City for a major
earthquake...there is a very real risk of it and other areas in BC being hit by
the next major earthquake," Kevin Wallinger, Director of Emergency Management
for Vancouver, told Bernama as officials and the public witnessed the horrific
events in Japan and took stock of the local situation here.
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BRITISH COLUMBIA-EARTHQUAKE 2 VANCOUVER
British Columbia, about three times the size of Malaysia, is the most
seismically active part of Canada, and it is popular with immigrants, students,
investors and tourists -– big numbers of them are from Malaysia and Singapore
--largely due to its proximity to Asia and mild winters.
The province has one of Canada’s most expensive real estate and it is
estimated a major earthquake could cause untold physical and economic and
financial damage.
"Already, we have earthquakes on a regular basis here ... about 400 of them
a year but we could not really feel most of it as they have so far been of low
magnitude," said Wallinger.
The pace of the on-going preparation, which culminates with a major
earthquake drill, PACIFICEX 11, on Wednesday has been quickened with an
unprecedented urgency to ensure earthquake kits for each and every household are
available amid the chills and shocks from the Japanese tragedy.
The exercise is to reduce damage, injuries and deaths when it does happen.
“BC could experience the type of destruction in Christchurch and Japan as it has
similar types of risks. The recent earthquakes along the Pacific ''Ring of Fire''
were a wake-up call for people in the West Coast of Canada,” Kelli Kryzanowski,
the Manager of Catastrophic Disaster Planning and Recovery of BC told Bernama.
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Just last Saturday, a small earthquake occurred at the northern coast of
Vancouver Island situated off Vancouver City. The island is expected to protect
the city of Vancouver from any major tsunami when the Big One hits. In Quebec on
the east, the earth shook too recently.
Vancouver, with 500,000 residents, has one of the country’s four urban
search and rescue teams, called Canada Task Force One, having been the first to
have set up the 64-member team due to its vulnerability to earthquakes.
Kryzanowski said there was no way of predicting when a major earthquake
would occur “but we must remember because we live in the Pacific Ring of Fire
which is a seismic zone, we will always need to be prepared."
The city expects the people to look after themselves for the first 72 hours
of an earthquake, and has placed 26 shipping containers with emergency supplies
for displaced victims to get water, food and basic first aid equipment in a
major earthquake, at strategic spots.
As to how prepared the 4.5 million-strong British Columbian population is,
Kevin said: “We have good plans and have places with strong organisational
structures around municipalities across the province. The biggest challenge is
for people to be able to look after themselves initially.”
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BRITISH COLUMBIA-EARTHQUAKE 4 VANCOUVER
Professor John Clague of Simon Fraser University’s Earth Sciences Faculty,
said people here are fearful of what could possibly happen as North West Pacific
has the same set up with two plates, stuck and colliding against each other,
which could ultimately release energy in the form of a major earthquake like it
occurred in Japan.
"The set-up is so similar that we expect to see the same types of effects,
like a tsunami, strong ground shaking and landslides which could be very
damaging to buildings, bridges and other infrastructure. But Metro Vancouver
will likely be spared a hit by a tsunami as it is fronted by the Vancouver
Island off its coast,” he said.
He said all the Pacific North West would be strongly shaken by a major
earthquake and this is where major US and Canadian cities are located.
"I hate to see Vancouver damaged...it is such a beautiful city. The major
earthquake will eventually occur, absolutely, and there is no doubt about it,"
he said.
According to a scenario that emergency planners have mapped out in a
training exercise slated this Wednesday, a massive subduction earthquake off the
west coast would kill nearly 400 people and cause more than C$150 million in
damages.
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A handbook for tsunami has painted such a scenario, by experts in the US and
Canada, who have been planning an exercise to rehearse what will happen when an
earthquake on the scale that shook and shocked Japan, hits the west coast of
North America.
The disaster to be simulated in PACIFICEX11 will unleash a tsunami that
races along the coast, from California to Alaska. It will be a mirror image of
what happened in Japan.
Brian Inglis, the task force leader for the Vancouver Urban Search and
Rescue team, was recently reported to have said residents should not count on
any immediate help from local police, firemen or ambulance teams if a large
scale earthquake hits the BC coast as bridges could collapse and roads made
impassable.
-- BERNAMA
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