A swarm of str
ong earthquakes hit China’s Qinghai province near Tibet early Wednesday morning, the strongest being a 7.1 that toppled an estimated 85% of homes in the impoverished rural area.
The China earthquake is the latest major quake of 2010, following the January magnitude 7.0 earthquake that demolished the country of Haiti, the 8.8 magnitude quake that hit Chile, and the relatively mild early morning 4.4 earthquake that startled people awake in Los Angeles and caused an estimated $100 million in damage.
Seismic-hazard maps released in 2008 show the Boulder Creek fault 40 km’s east of Bellingham running 11km lengthwise and 17km across into BC, near Abbotsford. Experts say this fault could produce a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in BC and would likely cause structural damage to buildings in Abbotsford and throughout Metro Vancouver, to the coast (The Province April 2008).
The recent earthquakes have many people feeling earthquake anxiety and wondering if they are foretelling “The Big One” in the United States, which geologists say is inevitable. There is a widespread perception that something unusual is going on – a pervasive level of anxiety regarding the stability of the earth under our feet – something we normally take for granted.
This is a good reminder to be prepared. If you are feeling earthquake anxiety, now would be a great time to buy an earthquake preparedness kit. Call SOS Emergency Response Technologies at 604-277-5855