(Government of Canada)

By Jordan Davidson

Drop, Cover, Hold On

‘Earthquakes just happen:’ Great B.C. ShakeOut drives home preparedness message

Oct 21, 2021 | 5:29 AM

NANAIMO — It’s time to batten down the hatches and update your earthquake preparedness plan.

The annual Great British Columbia ShakeOut, held every Oct. 21 at 10:21 a.m., encourages residents to take a look at their emergency preparedness plan and have a ‘drop, cover and hold on’ drill in place in case things start getting shaky.

John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said this is a chance to think about exactly what to do.

“Unlike hurricanes or tornados or weather events where you have some warning, earthquakes just happen, so knowing what to do when the shaking begins is really important and can help make a difference.”

Registration for the event is available at shakeoutbc.ca. ShakeOut is the world’s largest earthquake exercise with more than 40 million people participating, including nearly 800,000 in B.C. last year.

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Cassidy said most injuries during an earthquake occur from items falling on people, which is why the ‘drop, cover and hold on’ advice is so important.

“The shaking is so strong that if you’re underneath a desk and you’re not holding on it can actually move away from you during very strong shaking.”

Cassidy said instincts can cause some people to freeze or to run outside, which is one of the worst things you can do.

“We’ve seen from previous earthquakes here in British Columbia bricks coming down, broken windows, and so if you run outside of a building that’s where everything is raining down, so you really want to be underneath something and holding on.”

Vancouver Island is a very seismically active region with between 500-600 earthquakes recorded every year. A small 2.5 magnitude earthquake was documented, but not felt, near Sechelt on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

Most of the hundreds of tremors are minor and offshore, with only round six actually felt each year.

Particularly damaging earthquakes typically occur every decade or two, such as one in 1946 when a 7.3 quake struck between Port Alberni and Courtenay.

An elementary school in Courtenay in 1946, with an earthquake causing a chimney to collapse through the school. (Government of Canada)

Cassidy said those small earthquakes provide some very useful information.

“One of the things we’re interested in is how local geology alters or affects ground shaking. Is it stronger, is it weaker, what types of waves are amplified or absorbed? So you can have stronger shaking in some urban areas and much less shaking in other areas.”

Information gathered from earthquakes helps officials update plans and various building codes.

Both the City of Nanaimo and the Regional District of Nanaimo offer emergency alerts through the Voyent Alert! network.

In an emergency, you will be notified through text, email, app or a phone call telling you where to go and what to be ready for.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow