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Last month the costliest natural disaster on record has killed as many as 25,000 people, caused an estimated $300-billion in damage and raised the spectre of widespread radioactive pollution.
A tectonic fault known as the Cascadia subduction zone runs south 1,300 kilometres to Cape Mendocino, the most westerly point in California.
The devastation in Japan should serve as a wake-up call, a reminder that much of North America’s West Coast faces a very similar threat: The question isn’t whether Cascadia’s fault will wreak havoc once more but when.
If the whole fault does tear apart, five major cities – Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Portland and Sacramento – would be slammed simultaneously, along with dozens of smaller communities. According to Eddie Bernard of the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle, the net effect would be like having Hurricane Katrina strike in five places at once.
Twenty minutes after the shaking stops, killer waves will strike B.C., Washington, Oregon and northern California. Hours later, “our” tsunami would hit Hawaii, Alaska, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
The damage could be staggering, and how well we survive will depend on how well we have prepared. With any luck, the painful experience of Japan will offer a “teachable moment” – a chance for North America to get ready for the inevitable.
So, as well as putting together survival kits, concerned citizens would be wise to spread the word and call for action. The danger that lies ahead is almost unknown beyond British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest
If any further reminder is required, both Mexico and Japan were hit with sizable quakes again this week.
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Do you sit properly? If you want to learn then…STAND UP!
- Look straight ahead
- relax your shoulders
- let your arms hang loose
This is your NEUTRAL position, and most people lose this form when they sit down.
When you sit back down, think of how you need to support your body to maintain your neutral position. Take the time to learn the features of your chair – something few of us take time to explore.
Think of your chair as a car seat. Would you start driving if your feet didn’t reach the pedals? Learning what the knobs on your chair do, combined with a well arranged desk and stretches every half hour, will give you a smoother ride at your desk.
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TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply ‘ducks and covers’ when building collapse are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a bed, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different ‘moment of frequency’ (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads – horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn’t collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get near the outer walls of buildings or outside of them if possible – It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper
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Local Richmond papers are urging residents to prepare for natural disasters. There is no need to live in fear but we do need to be prepared.
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) : The head of the City of Vancouver’s Emergency Management says residents need to take it upon themselves to be ready if a major quake hits the region.
Kevin Wallinger says responding to a quake is a shared responsibility and everyone needs to prepare, “What is the current state of public preparedness? How ready is the public? My sense is some may not be as ready as they should be and that’s an area I think we need to focus on.”
Council has also heard while seismic upgrades have been done on the city’s bridges, they’re not up to current standards.
There’s better news when it comes to the viaducts which are described as “robust.”
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9.0 earthquake hit the coast of Japan a few days ago, 2 days after a 7.0 earthquake, and created a 10 metre tsunami that pounded Japan and was felt as far as the coast of Tofino, BC and Steveston BC.
Over 88,000 people are missing and over 50 after shocks , some of them registering 7.2 are still being felt.
This earthquake has sparked fires, and people are being urged to move to higher ground.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Japan.
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Tuesday’s deadly earthquake in New Zealand should remind Canadians to be prepared. Although we have national building code standards and our buildings should fare better, Canadians should expect to be independent for at least 72 hours.
Last month, thousands of people across British Columbia particpated in the Great British Columbia Shakeout – this province wide drill was intended to encourage people to practice what to do in the event of an earthquake.
Ensure that you have an out of town contact and that you keep cash on hand. Remember, communication systems will be interuppted and credit cards and debit cards could be rendered useless.
Homeowners should prepare to be without assistance for at least 72 hours and assemble supplies such as emergency food, water and shelter.
