A network of sensors for an early earthquake-warning system that will eventually send emergency alerts to cellphones in real time is expected to be complete in April, says Natural Resources Canada.
The system of on-ground sensors is designed to give communities several seconds of warning — even minutes, depending on the epicentre — in the event of a mega thrust quake that causes major shaking and damage, said Alison Bird, a federal seismologist and outreach officer for the program.
Bird said people would be able to get into safe positions, and the warning could trigger automated systems such as diverting planes from landing at airports, stopping public transit and traffic on bridges, shutting off gas valves and alerting surgeons to stop operating and kicking in key generators.
Fire halls would be able to immediately open their doors and turn on public announcement speakers, and building operators would be able to open elevator doors.
Bird said 74 of 96 core early-warning network stations — the sensors are about the size of lunch kit — have been installedaround the Island and in the rest of the province.
Software has been running in test mode at Natural Resource data centres and “all is going smoothly,” she added.
Tanya Seal-Jones, emergency co-ordinator for the City of Victoria, said 10 of the sensors that tie into the system are being installed around the capital region — including at Victoria General and Royal Jubilee hospitals, the Songhees Wellness Centre and fire halls in Victoria, Highlands, Colwood, Sooke and Metchosin.
She said they are being spread out to ensure maximum coverage throughout the capital region.
The real-time warnings will eventually be connected to personal cellphones.
Some of the triggering of automated systems at facilities such as airports and hospitals would require that additional pieces of hardware be installed by building operators, said Bird.
Natural Resources Canada plans to add a web page early in the new year where critical-infrastructure operators will be able to find information on incorporating specific hardware into facilities and operations.
Bird said the federal agency held a workshop with some critical infrastructure operators in November and plans to start beta-testing with the organizations early in the new year.
Seal-Jones said some of the hardware will be installed around the region in March, depending on the need and functions required at each site.
In the event of a quake, everything would happen quickly.
Earthquakes release energy that travels through the ground as seismic waves. The new system’s sensors detect the first energy to radiate from an earthquake, called the P-wave, which rarely causes damage.
The sensors transmit the information to Natural Resource Canada data centres, where a computer calculates the earthquake’s location and magnitude, and the expected ground shaking across the region.
The method provides a warning before the arrival of secondary waves, called S waves, which bring the strong shaking that can cause major damage and potential loss of life.
The systems have already proven effective in Japan, Mexico and the U.S., according to the federal agency.
In early 2022, when Tohuku, Japan saw a 7.4-magnitude earthquake, a bullet train travelling at 300 km/h was immediately stopped because of a similar sensor system on the rail line, averting a major derailment and loss of life.
Bird suggests going to Shakeout B.C. and other websites to find out exactly what to do if you receive an alert. “Drop, cover and hold on,” she said. “Get under your desk or table. If you’re in bed, stay there, turn on your stomach and put a pillow over your head.”
She said while most people are alarmed at the initial rumblings and shakes, the new system should give people a little extra time to protect themselves with very basic measures.
Earthquakes generating low levels of shaking will not produce alerts. Nor will sites close to an earthquake’s epicentre, where alerting is not possible.
She said alerts are based on the level of shaking and not necessarily the strength of the quake.
University of Victoria-based Ocean Networks Canada already has an early-warning system connected to its NEPTUNE cabled ocean-floor observatory close to the Cascadia subduction fault.
It has eight sea-floor sites integrated with 40 land-based sites on Vancouver Island that can provide quick notification of the arrival of earthquakes.
Since 2018, the Ocean Networks Canada system has detected 96 earthquakes.
When a 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck 34 kilometres off Tofino on Nov. 25, 2022, the ONC sensors were able to provide 43 seconds of notification to Vancouver and Victoria. Victoria was 235 kilometres from the epicentre and Vancouver 231 kilometres.
The 43-second notification was verified by a sensor located along the SkyTrain Canada Line in Richmond.
The earthquake was considered small and did not cause any damage, but proved the system can give valuable time before a potential shaking event.
Mega-thrust earthquakes happen in subduction zones where one tectonic plate is thrust under another, which is the case on the West Coast on the Cascadia subduction zone.
From mid-Vancouver Island to northern California, the Juan de Fuca Plate is slipping beneath the North American Plate. The plates get stuck, but eventually the build-up of strain releases and earthquakes of all strengths can occur.
There have been four magnitude-7 or greater damaging earthquakes in the past 130 years in southwest B.C. and northern Washington state, according to Natural Resources Canada.
Smaller quakes that cause little or no damage are much more common, with thousands being recorded each year.
Natural Resources Canada suggests people ensure they have an earthquake preparedness kit on hand and formalize a family emergency plan so they are ready in the event of a natural disaster.
