Canada: Be prepared - Are you ready for the ‘Big One?’
By Katherine Engqvist, Bureau Chief
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This series explores what Greater Victoria will look like after a devastating earthquake, the probability of a tsunami, the infrastructures that will crumble and the people who are ready to serve. This series is meant to be an introduction to our Be Prepared guide, which features even more information on how to keep your home and loved ones safe. You can pick up a copy of the guide at your local fire station, recreation centre, our Victoria News office or find it online on our website under e-editions.
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To understand whether British Columbians are ready for emergencies, Ipsos Public Affairs conducted a personal preparedness survey in December 2017 on behalf of the provincial government and PreparedBC. Eighty per cent of Vancouver Island residents said they were very or somewhat concerned about an earthquake, much higher than the provincial average of 67 per cent, and 38 per cent were concerned about a tsunami (compared to 27 per cent provincially).
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Following a catastrophic shallow earthquake near Greater Victoria (magnitude 7 or larger), the B.C. Earthquake Immediate Response Plan predicts all major transportation routes will be disrupted, large parts of the impacted and surrounding areas will in inaccessible by road, water and wastewater systems will fail, and a significant portion of the population will require emergency social services. An estimated 14,000 people will be displaced in the Capital Regional District (CRD) with the most extreme requirements in the downtown area and Esquimalt.
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The plan, which was published in 2015, notes this scenario is unlikely as undisturbed glacial deposits show evidence the Leech River fault has not been active in the past 10,000 years. But a team of researchers, including three University of Victoria professors, published a scientific article in GSA Today in 2017, presenting the first evidence indicating the fault has experienced at least two surface-rupturing earthquakes.
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