‘Every second counts’: Earthquake early warning system launched in B.C.

As British Columbians prepare for the next ‘big one’ to hit, they now have a new tool to help warn them about an impending earthquake.

The federal government announced Thursday the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system is now operational in the province.

Using a network of sensors, the EWW will detect earthquakes with a magnitude greater than five and automatically send an alert through the National Public Alerting System to cellphones, radio and televisions. The alert will give people “seconds to tens of seconds before strong shaking starts,” and a short time to ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold On,” according to Natural Resources Canada.

“These crucial seconds might not sound like a lot right now, but they will mean life and death for many people during an extreme earthquake here in British Columbia,” B.C. Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said at Thursday’s announcement.

5:16 Metro Vancouver seismic hazard mapping

Natural Resources Canada says the warnings will also trigger automatic protective measures for trains, bridges and tunnels. These include warning planes not to land, stopping trains to prevent derailment and preventing traffic from accessing bridges and tunnels.

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“During an earthquake, every second counts,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said.

“Every year in Canada, nearly 5000 earthquakes are recorded. Fortunately, most of these are small and pose no serious threat. But large damaging earthquakes can and will occur.”

The system is part of Ottawa’s $36-million plan to develop warning systems to protect regions that are vulnerable to earthquakes and protect upwards of 10 million people. The investments began in 2019 and the full EEW system is expected to be operational in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec later this year.

5:46 What the ‘big one’ will look like in BC

The two areas in Canada that Wilkinson says were determined to be most at risk of damaging earthquakes were western B.C. and the corridor between Ottawa and Quebec City.

While the EEW cannot predict earthquakes, it is an improvement over the previous system which could only alert after an event. The further people are from the epicentre, the more warning time they will have.

According to ClimateReadyBC, the province experiences several thousand earthquakes annually, but we are only able to feel around 50 of them.