SFU earth scientist leads team of experts to discovery of new earthquake and tsunami threats to Japan, potentially B.C.
A team of researchers have found new evidence of another seismic risk for Japan, with possible implications for parts of B.C.
In 2011, eastern Japan was hit with the fourth-most-powerful earthquake ever recorded. The quake triggered a nuclear disaster, as well as a massive tsunami.
For the past decade, the research team – led by Simon Fraser University earth scientist and tier II Canada research chair in natural hazards Jessica Pilarczyk – has been looking deeper into Japan’s geological history.
"What we set out to do was to find geological evidence of past earthquakes and tsunamis," said Pilarczyk.
The team was able to find sandy deposits from the Boso Peninsula region – roughly 50 kilometres east of Tokyo – which they attribute to a tsunami similar in size to the 2011 incident.
"There’s overwhelming and widespread evidence for a tsunami that impacted that area about 1,000 years ago," Pilarczyk said.
Pilarczyk says if the Boso Peninsula has a similar earthquake cycle to the region where the 2011 earthquake occurred, which is an interval of 1000 to 1100 years, another major incident could be upon us.
“If that’s a similar recurrence level to down south where we were working, we’d be not quite due, but potentially due,” Pilarczyk said.
Pilarczyk says parts of B.C., including Delta, Richmond and Port Alberni could be vulnerable.
"The low-lying areas of the British Columbia coastline are the most susceptible to any kind of tsunami, including those from the Cascadia subduction zone."
While the 2011 tsunami had little impact on B.C., Pilarczyk says there is precedent for a tsunami wreaking havoc on the other side of the Pacific Ocean: The 1700 Cascadia earthquake, which is the largest earthquake ever recorded in this province.
“It travelled all the way across the Pacific, and in the middle of the night, swept away coastal communities in Japan.”
You can read the full findings of the team’s research here.
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.