Early earthquake notification system passes the test in Tofino, national system set for 2024
A team of researchers on Vancouver Island had a big breakthrough after a smaller earthquake struck near the coast of Tofino last Friday.
While the earthquake, measured at a magnitude of 4.8, wasn’t strong enough to cause damage, it was strong enough for the team at Ocean Networks Canada to determine that years of research has paid off.
“The Tofino earthquake was a really nice test,” said Katen Moran, president of Ocean Networks Canada.
The University of Victoria initiative, funded by Emergency Management BC, began installing sensors on Vancouver Island in 2017.
Moran says their sensors were able to detect the primary wave on Friday, she says if it was a bigger earthquake, they would have been able to provide around 35 seconds notice.
“It worked really well,”
“We were able to detect the energy from the earthquake, calculate the arrival time, should there have been a bigger earthquake from ground shaking to arrive,” Moran said.
While that program is making progress, a national system is also in the works, with the first sensor being installed in Horseshoe Bay back in March.
“This is a very exciting technology,” said Alison Bird, a seismologist and outreach officer with Natural Resources Canada's earthquake early warning system.
The system will detect the primary wave, then an alert would be issued to people’s phones and potentially to radio and television stations, similar to an amber alert.
Bird says she’s unsure if a specific time frame would be given for when the earthquake could strike.
“Research has shown that people tend to underestimate the amount of time to do something,” she said.
However Bird says it will give individuals enough time to take basic safety precautions
“Really the best thing to do is that drop, cover, hold on,” Bird said.
She says critical infrastructure operators will get alerts sent directly to them, giving them an opportunity to trigger technologies in place.
"They can open doors, close valves, stop hazardous machinery, that sort of thing, those little things you can do within a few seconds make a big difference in reducing the potential impact of that earthquake,”
The system is expected to be ready by 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.