WATCH: A new article in the New Yorker says the next massive quake in the Pacific Northwest could be the worst natural disaster in North American history.
A new article in the New Yorker puts into stark focus just how bad a long overdue earthquake in the Pacific Northwest could be.
The article collects the latest earthquake research on the Pacific coast. It focuses on Seattle, but the findings also serve as a major warning for the B.C. coast.
The warning is grim: we’re overdue for a massive subduction quake, which could cause a debris-filled tsunami as tall as 30 metres.
Estimates say a large quake could lead to 13,000 fatalities with another 27,000 injured. As many as 1 million people could end up homeless.
READ MORE: Experts say Vancouver Island will rip open like a zipper when overdue earthquake hits
The New Yorker article states we’re overdue for a quake that will have a magnitude of 8.0 or higher.
It points to soil samples taken from the sea floor suggesting the Juan de Fuca fault line has slipped 41 times in the last 10,000 years or, on average, every 243 years. It’s been 365 years since the last really big one.
So what should a person do to prepare for the Big One?
“If there’s a massive earthquake in the Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island, you need to be ready with your family,” said B.C. Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton. “You may need to be looking after your own family for up to three days before help comes. I do encourage people to go to the Prepared BC website and have a look at what you can do to make sure that your family is ready.”
-With files from Ted Chernecki
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