In Vancouver, you need to be prepared for earthquakes but Langara geology instructor says most students aren’t
Despite recent tremors felt in southwestern B.C., few people are prepared for a seismic emergency
By DANIEL BUMANGLAG
Despite living in one of the most earthquake-prone regions in Canada, many Vancouverites remain unprepared.
According to the United States Geological Survey, two earthquakes of 4.8 and 4.5 magnitudes occurred near Vancouver within the past two weeks.
Drew Egan, geography instructor at Langara College, said Vancouver is more prone to seismic events because it sits in a subduction zone, in which the friction and released pressure between two tectonic plates can cause frequent earthquakes.
Egan is concerned about community support in Vancouver in the event of an earthquake.
“The City of Vancouver has been trying for years to get neighbours and people to look out for each other within the community,” said Egan. “But as you know, it’s a pretty lonely landscape. I’m not that positive that it’s as widespread as they’d like it to be.”
Few students are prepared
Egan said one of the biggest misconceptions his students have is that there is no point in worrying because earthquakes are unpredictable.
“If I ask a class of 30 students how many have a plan, 10 per cent of the class might say yes,” said Egan. “Maybe one or two of those students will have a kit.”
Langara psychology student Simran Simran said she does not have an emergency earthquake kit. Another Langara student, Joseph Yohanis, said he doesn’t have a kit either and his family is just now considering purchasing one following last week’s earthquake.
Gambling with safety
Brett Gilley, an earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences professor at UBC, said although earthquakes are not as scary as people imagine, having an emergency kit is important as “while it’s very unlikely that you will die in an earthquake, it’s relatively likely that you will be in an earthquake, if you live your whole life in Vancouver.”
Gilley said big earthquakes are unpredictable and happen every 150 to 500 years, with the last big earthquake happening 320 years ago.
“They’re not like clockwork,” said Gilley. “So, when you look at that, we see that we’re due for an earthquake.”
