Many Metro Vancouver residents remember the night of Dec. 29, 2015, when a magnitude 4.7 earthquake rattled homes, jolted people out of bed and briefly left some wondering if The Big One was about to hit.

Operators at E-Comm, the region's 911 dispatcher, certainly remember that night. That's because they were flooded with hundreds of non-emergency calls that tied up their limited and valuable resources, which should be reserved for helping people in dire need.

"Here at E-Comm we fielded 318 calls in 15 minutes. That's a 1,500 per cent increase over our normal call volume for that time of day, and not one of those calls was an emergency," spokesperson Jody Robertson said.

"They were all information-related calls: Was that an earthquake? What should I do? When will the next earthquake be?"

The earthquake was the strongest felt in the region in more than a decade, but despite leaving people understandably concerned, there was virtually no fallout. No one was hurt, and no damage was reported.

That won't be the case during The Big One, which is why E-Comm has asked the public to think before calling 911 in the aftermath of that or any other earthquake.

People are generally only supposed to call 911 to report someone's health, safety or property is in jeopardy, or that there is a crime in progress. Amid the chaos of a natural disaster, Robertson said the focus narrows even further.

"We really only want people to call if there's a life safety issue," Robertson said. "We need to make sure our lines are kept clear for people who really need the support of first responders."

Megan Wong, a 911 operator who was working during the quake last December, said non-emergency calls hold up the process more than the public might expect; call-takers can't simply hang up on people who dialed 911 to get information.

"We have to ensure that they're safe first, so we still have to take the time to go through our questions and ensure that they're not injured and there's no other emergency that we need to know about," Wong said.

While that's going on, there's potentially someone waiting on the other line who might be going through something terrifying, and is truly in need of help.

Sadly, the same kind of non-emergency calls are received even in the case of mere power outages. People will call 911 to report their electricity is down, or to ask when it might return.

"Our staff can't answer those kinds of questions. There's so many resources, reputable resources, that you can go to to find out those kinds of answers. We mustn't use these valuable resources," Robertson said.

E-Comm's announcement coincided with the Great British Columbia ShakeOut earthquake drill, which hundreds of thousands of people participated in Thursday morning.

Apart from knowing how to respond during an earthquake, the public is urged to prepare for The Big One by crafting a plan to take care of their own needs for 72 hours, at minimum, in the aftermath, and to be able to meet with their families.

A startling plan prepared by the B.C. government's Emergency Management Branch last year envisioned a worst-case scenario for a shallow 7.3-magnitude earthquake striking underneath Vancouver, which estimated there would be about 10,000 deaths and another 128,000 injuries.

For more information on how to prepare for a serious earthquake or another disaster, visit the PreparedBC website.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson