Great B.C. ShakeOut: How prepared are British Columbians for a big earthquake?

Thursday marked the annual Great B.C. ShakeOut, an event intended to raise awareness and prepare communities for a big earthquake in the region.

The event was organized by the British Columbia Earthquake Alliance and thousands in the province took part, including schools, businesses and government officials.

The B.C. coast is one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world, so when it comes to the “big one,” it could happen in our lifetime, according to Tony Yang, a structural and earthquake engineering professor at UBC.

“We’re not that lucky. It’s definitely going to happen. So it’s not if, it’s when,” he said.

While personal preparedness is important, he said the region needs to work on its infrastructure.

“Well, our building codes are really robust. We have designed the building code to ensure that buildings have low risk of collapsing. However, we did not pay attention to the performance of the building or the usability of the building after an earthquake,” Yang said.

This summer, he went to Turkiye to study the devastating impacts of the February earthquakes there.

“What we took away from the Turkish earthquake event is that we want to make sure our infrastructure will be fully functional, if we can, or rapidly recoverable, so we can start using it,” he said.

Bowinn Ma, B.C.'s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, said events like the ShakeOut are important for the public.

“I think, ideally, every single British Columbian will have an emergency kit in their home, and I know that’s not the case right now. So we've still got work to do,” she said.

She also the province has teamed up with the federal government to create a national early earthquake warning system that's set to be released next spring.

It will broadcast a few seconds' warning of a possible earthquake through televisions, radio and mobile phones.

“It provides crucial seconds of warning, so that people can drop, cover and hold on before shaking begins,” Ma said.

“Now, a few seconds might not seem a lot, but it could be the difference between a surgeon choosing to put their scalpel down during surgery or lifting it up. It could be the difference between opening the automated bay doors of a firehall or an ambulance station and it could be the difference between speeding up a train and slowing it down,” she continued.

People are warned: the impacts of an earthquake are devastating and it's better to be prepared than reactive.