The B.C. government is urging the public to be earthquake-ready as an alarming new response plan details the mass casualties a major earthquake could wreak.
The plan, released by the province’s Emergency Management branch, estimates a shallow 7.3-magnitude earthquake underneath Vancouver would kill nearly 10,000 people and injure another 128,000.
The document goes on to imagine the admitted worst-case scenario in chilling detail.
“For many, the earthquake is heard before it is felt,” it reads. “The low, rumbling sound is similar to that of a freight train, immediately followed by 10-20 seconds of violent shaking that knocks people located closest to the epicenter from their feet.”
Unsecured objects shoot through the air, roads crack and towers sway. Nearly one in five buildings sustains extensive damage, with some collapsing and others being consumed by flames.
“Many of those who try to run outside suffer extreme injury or death from falling and flying objects and thousands are trapped or injured,” the plan warns. “Dust, smoke and sirens fill the air.”
The government said it’s improbable a quake will strike directly beneath Vancouver, but seismologists believe the possibility is still worth studying.
“This is the kind of target they need to make sure they’re prepared [for],” said Dr. Honn Kao of the Geological Survey of Canada.
The plan’s estimates are based on computer modelling, and sound especially concerning in the wake of last weekend’s destructive windstorm in Metro Vancouver.
B.C.’s Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness, Naomi Yamamoto, urged the public to take the storm, which caused the worst power outage in the province’s history, as a wakeup call about the importance of being prepared.
“That means having an emergency kit at home. That means having water for three days. It means having a flashlight. It means making sure that you have a plan in place to be able to contact your friends and relatives, your family, if you should be separated,” Yamamoto said.
But even the provincial government has been accused of failing to prepare for that kind of crisis. Last year, the Auditor General suggested B.C. hadn’t made significant progress in earthquake preparedness in nearly two decades.
More than 100 schools are still considered at high-risk of earthquake damage, and upgrade work isn’t expected to be completed for another 15 years.
The government said its updated preparedness plan, released in July, is a step in the right direction, and Yamamoto highlighted the progress that has been achieved.
“We’ve invested $17 billion since 2001 in upgrading schools, upgrading hospitals, and upgrading highways and roads and bridges,” she said.
To read B.C.’s full Earthquake Immediate Response Plan, click here.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts
