Annual drill urges British Columbians to prepare for earthquakes

Emergency planners are advising British Columbians to be prepared for major earthquakes in the province, including practising what they would do if the natural disaster struck.

That's the reasoning behind running a one-minute ShakeOutdrill each year on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 10:17 a.m. local time.The exercise is organized in workplaces, schools and people's homes worldwide.

It aims to get residents prepared for big earthquakes, especially in earthquake-prone zones like the West Coast of North America. In B.C., the drill comes a little under two weeksafter a series of earthquakes were felt in Metro Vancouver and northern B.C.

John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said early preparedness is key in the province, which includes having an emergency kitand being aware of potential hazards like hanging lights or paintings.

"It's a fine line. You don't want to scare people ... but you do want to remind people that very large earthquakes have happened here in the past and will again in the future," he told CBC News.

"Tectonic plates are still moving, as they have for millions of years."

In late August, the federal government announced that an early earthquake detection system had been activated in B.C., which would give the public a few seconds of advance notice when a harmful tremor is detected.

Alerts will be transmitted automatically to British Columbians via cellphones, radio and televisions seconds to tens-of-secondsbefore strong shaking begins, giving people a bit of time to "drop, cover and hold on."

Cassidy said the system is deployed when strong earthquakes could be felt in an area and the system already saw some use in the middle of Septemberto alert residents about a magnitude 6.4 earthquake south of Haida Gwaii.

Because most earthquakes occur at some distance,Cassidy said, an alert could give officials enough time to take measures such as halting drivers from entering a tunnel or using a bridge, orstopping planes from landing.

Cassidy added that the system has worked very well in Japan, where trains and cars have been stopped due to earthquake warnings.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Transportationsaid officials practise earthquake scenarios on a regular basis, and also regularly retrofit bridges and highways to ensure they are seismically sound.

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Gillian Wong, an emergency management specialist with the Vancouver Emergency Management Agency, said communities that are more connected to each other and prepared for emergencies will recover faster.

"We often think about emergency preparedness being about ... having the right supplies and even a plan, which can feel to some people very daunting," she said.

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As part of emergency planning, Wong recommended thatpeople have two emergency contacts one inside the province, and one outside.

"What we've seen is that when things get chaotic in a disaster, that our communication systems get overloaded," she said. "And so we encourage people to have that out-of-province contact."

In addition to being aware of the potential hazards in their homes, Wong recommendedpeople fillan emergency kitwith essential documents, prescriptions, water and non-perishable food.

Are we ready for "The Big One"?
CBC Vancouver's podcast seriesFault Linesexplores the potentially devastating effects of a massive magnitude earthquake predicted to hit the West Coast of North America.Hosted by CBC senior meteorologist and seismology expertJohanna Wagstaffe, you can listen to Fault Lines now atApple PodcastsandCBC Listen.