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B.C. to install earthquake warning sensors to give life-saving notice

The coastal B.C. community of Ucluelet is shown in an undated photo. The coastal B.C. community of Ucluelet is shown in an undated photo.
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Up to 50 earthquake early warning sensors are being installed around British Columbia as part of a larger plan to protect people and infrastructure in a big quake.

The sensors will be connected to the national Earthquake Early Warning system that's expected to be in operation by 2024.

A joint federal and provincial government announcement today says the sensors will give seconds, or perhaps tens of seconds, of warning before the strongest shaking arrives, helping to reduce injuries, deaths and property loss.

Bowinn Ma, B.C.'s minister of emergency management, says in a statement that an early warning system is critical to helping those in the province mitigate the impacts of a seismic event.

When the full system is operational next year, more than 10 million Canadians living in the most earthquake-prone areas of the country will get the early warning alerts, giving them precious seconds to take cover.

There are over 5,000 earthquakes in Canada every year, most of them along B.C.'s coast, although about 20 per cent of the quakes are along the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River valleys.

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