Close X
Monday, October 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. to install earthquake warning sensors

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Jan, 2023 04:21 PM
  • B.C. to install earthquake warning sensors

VICTORIA - Up to 50 earthquake early warning sensors are being installed around British Columbia as part of a larger plan to protect people and infrastructure in a big quake.

The sensors will be connected to the national Earthquake Early Warning system that's expected to be in operation by 2023.

A joint federal and provincial government announcement today says the sensors will give seconds, or perhaps tens of seconds, of warning before the strongest shaking arrives, helping to reduce injuries, deaths and property loss.

Bowinn Ma, B.C.'s minister of emergency management, says in a statement that an early warning system is critical to helping those in the province mitigate the impacts of a seismic event.

A joint federal and provincial government announcement today says the sensors will give seconds, or perhaps tens of seconds, of warning before the strongest shaking arrives, helping to reduce injuries, deaths and property loss.

When the full system is operational next year, more than 10 million Canadians living in the most earthquake-prone areas of the country will get the early warning alerts, giving them precious seconds to take cover.

There are over 5,000 earthquakes in Canada every year, most of them along B.C.'s coast, although about 20 per cent of the quakes are along the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River valleys.

On Jan. 26, 1700, a magnitude-9 megathrust earthquake hit North America's west coast, creating a tsunami that carried across the Pacific Ocean and slammed into Japan.

The statement says if a similar quake happens when the early warning system is operating, it could give up to four minutes' warning before the strongest shaking starts in coastal B.C. communities.

It says the system could also be used to automatically trigger trains to slow down, stop traffic from driving over bridges or into tunnels, divert air traffic, automatically close gas valves, and open firehall and ambulance bay doors.

MORE National ARTICLES

Impersonators behind 32 home frauds in Ont., B.C.

Impersonators behind 32 home frauds in Ont., B.C.
Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigators and official warnings suggest.  Insurance investigator Brian King, president and CEO of King International Advisory Group, said his firm had received 30 such claims in Ontario.

Impersonators behind 32 home frauds in Ont., B.C.

Union wants national transit safety task force

Union wants national transit safety task force
A task force should consider whether de-escalation training, harsher penalties, increased mental health funding, better housing supports and greater police presence could help prevent violence on transit. The call for a task force came after a number of violent attacks targeting workers and riders on the Toronto Transit Commission.

Union wants national transit safety task force

U.S., Canada unveil details of new Nexus scheme

U.S., Canada unveil details of new Nexus scheme
The biggest change, to take effect in the spring, will allow U.S. border agents to interview Nexus applicants at select Canadian airports before boarding a U.S.-bound flight. That will happen only after applicants take part in a separate, appointment-only interview with Canadian agents at a Nexus airport enrolment centre.

U.S., Canada unveil details of new Nexus scheme

What methods does Ottawa want RCMP to stop using?

What methods does Ottawa want RCMP to stop using?
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino directed Commissioner Brenda Lucki to bar Mounties from using the method in a mandate letter last year. The fact that he also asked RCMP to stop using two other tools — tear gas and rubber bullets — has received less public attention.    

What methods does Ottawa want RCMP to stop using?

66 more potential graves at former B.C. school

66 more potential graves at former B.C. school
In addition to the reflections found in a technical survey, she said interviews with survivors and searches through archival records revealed that babies born as a result of child sexual assault at the mission were disposed of by incineration.  Spearing said their work found "a minimum" of 28 children died at the mission, many of them buried in unmarked graves around the site.

66 more potential graves at former B.C. school

Famed Canadian skating coach guilty of sex assault

Famed Canadian skating coach guilty of sex assault
Richard Gauthier was on trial on three charges in connection with crimes he committed in the 1980s involving a teenage male skater whom he trained. Gauthier, 61, was found guilty on two charges, in a ruling rendered in Montreal by Quebec court Judge Josée Bélanger. He was acquitted of a third count of indecent assault against the victim, whose identity is covered by a publication ban.

Famed Canadian skating coach guilty of sex assault