An earthquake early detection system has been activated in British Columbia to provide the public and infrastructure managers with up to 10 seconds of warning ahead of a potentially harmful tremour.
Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said when a strong earthquake is detected, alerts will be transmitted automatically to British Columbians via cellphones, radio and televisions.
He said the system, jointly announced by the federal and B.C. government, would also allow managers of critical infrastructure to take immediate action, such as halting traffic from driving onto bridges or into tunnels.
“Every year in Canada, nearly 5,000 earthquakes are recorded,” Wilkinson said at a news conference in Richmond, B.C.
“Fortunately, most of these are small and pose no serious threat, but large damaging earthquakes can and will occur,” said Wilkinson, adding that the most potentially damaging ones could occur in western B.C., as well as the Ottawa-Quebec City corridor.
B.C. Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said seismologists had been warning for decades of a major earthquake in the province, and the new system gives “seconds, to 10 seconds” of warning in which to “drop, cover and hold on.”
“These crucial seconds might not sound like a lot right now, but they will mean life and death for many people during an extreme earthquake,” said Ma.
Ma said over the past few years, British Columbians had witnessed emergencies at a greater rate than ever, largely driven by climate change.
“Earthquakes aren’t exactly a climate change hazard, but in addition to all of the other climate-driven hazards, it means that British Columbians need to be more prepared than before,” said Ma.
Ma said the new earthquake warning system will allow every corner of the province to be “prepared and resilient.”
The new system is part of the federal government’s $36 million plan to develop a warning system to protect regions vulnerable to earthquakes.
Wilkinson said the system will be expanded later this year to Southern Quebec and Eastern Ontario.