“Quake” Article Notes –Point Form Notes Needed

John Zhang

05/03/21

Native Legend
 Earthquake in Pachena Bay on Vancouver Island
 a 9+ sized earthquake happened at 9 p.m. on Jan. 26th, 1700
 A section of the Cascadia Fault was ripped off of B.C.’s coast
 Land dropped 1m
 A 10-15m tsunami funnelled into the bay
 Wiped out the inhabitants in village Loht’a

Discoveries and Research

 Garry Rogers said a cataclysmic earthquake would occur
- Subterranean pressure was building
- Focused on ~300 unnoticeable quakes in SW B.C.
 Hints of a 1,500 km long fault laying beneath the ocean 100 km offshore
- Where Juan de Fuca Plate and North American Plate converged
 Seven moderate quakes happened in SW B.C.
- Most recent was a 5.4-sized under Pender Island in 1976
- Most significant was a 7.2-sized in Courtenay in 1946 that killed one man
- Largest one was a 7.5-sized in Abbotsford in 1872 however effect was minimal
 In the past 25 years, scientists realized the planet’s continents are all drifting
- Drifting process created the offshore Cascadia Fault
 Mountains of Vancouver Island were bending upward
- 13.5m strain created in 300 years would explode one day in a megathrust quake
 Roy Hyndman didn’t find any recent inland volcanic eruptions in B.C.
 John Clague was looking for evidence of historic earthquakes
- Found a fossil fuel which buried for 300 years
- Sandy layer around it could only occur after a tidal wave
- Inland sedimentary deposits suggested a huge tsunami
- Evidence of earthquake-produced soil liquefaction
 Voices from other parts of the world
 - Japanese seismologist confirmed a tsunami in Japan with NO earthquake
- NO reports from California, Latin America and Alaska of a big quake
 Though exaggerated, the native myth is TRUE
 Clague discovered a pattern for mega quake---occurs every 300-600 years

Involvement of Technology and Observations

 Laser-tech revealed northern half of mountain was raising and closing
 West coast was rising 5mm a year and East coast was sinking
 Mountains were being pushed up
 Victoria was being pushed towards the B.C.
 There might be a shallow rupture earthquake just like Kobe
- Worse than a 9-sized earthquake offshore
- Loss about tens to hundreds of billions of dollars
- It would be the worst disaster in Canadian history
 There would be TWO quake scenarios for B.C.
 FIRST scenario is a 6.5-sized earthquake in Vancouver
- Bridges, ports and buildings would collapse
- Electricity, water, and gas mains would fail
- Fire, liquefaction, flood would occur
- Around 200 deaths and loss of $32 billion
 SECOND scenario is a 8.5-sized mega quake in Victoria
- 15-20m of high tidal waves rolled ashore
- Villages would simply disappear
- Buildings in downtown area would collapse
- Injury form falling shelving, sliding furniture, collapsing chimneys and fire

Preparations and Solutions

 The B.C. governments had invested $500 million to,
- Upgrade bridges, ports facilities and factories
- Retrofit older schools
- Reinforce dams
- Establish new emergency coordination centres
 Another $500 million earmarked for further protect vulnerable structures
 Individuals invested on home emergency kits to get better prepared