Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
04 August 2011
Earthquake Could Hit
British Columbia at any Time
Vancouver is sitting in a danger zone; the Juan de Fuca Plate is sliding under the North American Plate from Vancouver Island to northern California
The process of one tectonic plate diving under another one is called subduction and it tends to produce some of the nastiest earthquakes.
The Juan de Fuca Plate is chugging along at between two and five cm/year. It’s about 45 km deep under Victoria and 70 km deep under Vancouver (below).
Evan Leeson
Tectonic Plates often Stick Together
To say that geological plates slide past or under each other is a bit misleading;
it gives the impression of a curling rock gliding down the ice. The reality is more
like two sheets of heavy-
Scientists believe the Juan de Fuca and North American Plates plates are currently
stuck together. Earthquakes Canada in Ottawa has some bad news about that: “At some
time in the future, these plates will snap loose, generating a huge offshore subduction
earthquake -
Massive Quakes about 500 Years Apart
The geological record shows the region has suffered a giant quake, on average, every 500 years or so.
The immediate question that springs to mind is “When was the last one?” The answer: January 26, 1700. Phew – safe for almost two more centuries. But, a watch can’t be set by these events.
Earthquakes are difficult to predict. The best that can be done is to suggest that, say, there’s a 65 percent a major quake will hit at sometime in the next five years. It’s impossible to predict a tremor will occur at the corner of Maple and Main at 9:14 am on the July 20 .
However, the scientists say a great earthquake will definitely hit the West Coast of Canada. It might not happen for years, but it might happen tomorrow.
Attempt to Predict the ‘Big One’
In an effort to get a bit of advance warning a project called Neptune Canada has
started. In August 2007, the venture began laying 800 km of fibre-
All the data collected by this network will be fed back to a shore-
Mega-
In February 2006, scientists warned the people of British Columbia that a catastrophic earthquake was imminent. It didn’t strike, but one day it will. When it does it will be disastrous and will look like this scene in California in 2003 (below).
Hey Paul
In our feature on earthquakes we described what a big quake might do to Vancouver: “…pedestrians will be showered with glass falling from office towers. Bits of masonry…will shake loose and plunge to the ground. Some entire buildings will collapse.
“Transportation will come to a standstill. The streets will be clogged with debris and vehicles; some bridges and tunnels will cave in.”
Public services such as water and electricity will fail; stores, banks, and gas stations will be closed to customers but likely open to looters.
It’s probable that natural gas pipes will fracture and the slightest spark, of which there will be plenty, will start fires, but, because of clogged streets, firefighters will be unable to deal with the flames.
It might take days for first responders to attend at all the emergencies.
Apocalyptic Vision of Post-
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates that a major southwestern B.C.
earthquake will wreck many buildings. It says that up to 30 percent of wood-
It would take decades to rebuild the city, just as it’s proving to be a long-
That begs the question of, why bother? Vancouver will certainly be destroyed again, just as New Orleans will be wrecked by another hurricane, when the next giant quake comes sometime in the next 500 or so years.
Sources
“Background on Earthquakes in Western Canada.” Earthquakes Canada.
Neptune Canada.
“Waiting for the Big One.” Canada and the World, October 2007.
“Canada’s Next Big Quake: It’s Overdue -
© Canada and the World, August 2011
All rights reserved
THE BIGGEST ONE
In May 1960, the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century occurred along the coast of Southern Chile.
The catastrophic 9.5-
Peruvian coasts.
Given the numerous towns and cities in the
affected area, it was considered remarkable that only about 2,300 people were killed (though some estimates are as high as
6,000).
About 3,000 were injured, and 2,000,000 left homeless.
The plates that form the
Earth’s crust are called
“tectonic” from the Ancient Greek word “tekton” meaning builder.
Canadian geologist John Tuzo Wilson (1908-
“...at the Pacific Geoscience Centre on Vancouver Island, laboratory director Dieter
Weichert [says] that, because of [a 1985 earthquake in] Mexico, the official risk
assessment for a magnitude 8 or higher quake along Canada's West Coast had jumped
from 50-
Now that science has proof...the odds are closer to 100 percent.
Jerry Thompson
April 2011