A major earthquake such as the one that that caused devastation and significant loss of life in Japan on Friday (March 11) is possible in Squamish, which is one reason District of Squamish officials were so keen for the community to be part of the recent ShakeOut B.C. earthquake preparedness drill in January.
Squamish Emergency Program (SEP) officials also keep the possibility of a tsunami in mind when discussing emergency scenarios. However, the program's coordinator told The Chief in November 2010 that a tsunami putting life or property in peril as it has during the Japan tragedy is an extremely remote prospect here.
"A 9.3 or 9.5 [earthquake] is going to hurt us, but one thing we can be somewhat certain of is that Squamish won't suffer a great tsunami here it's more about the effects of the earthquake," Jim Lang said in a Chief article about ShakeOut B.C.
Partly because of its location sheltered from the open Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island and from the Georgia Strait by the Sunshine Coast mountains a tsunami causing problems at the head of Howe Sound is unlikely. Lang told The Chief the most that would be likely to make it up the sound is a swell of about one metre not enough to threaten life or property.
The west side of Vancouver Island, as well as Haida Gwaii and parts of the mid- and northern B.C. coast were under a tsunami advisory on Friday after the tsunami that contributed to the devastation in Japan began to make its way across the Pacific. But Squamish was not on the list of communities under the advisory.
Mayor Greg Gardner on Friday said a tsunami "is something we certainly do discuss" when local officials talk about emergency planning, but he was quick to add that earthquakes, floods that originate upstream and large fires are considered much more likely scenarios.
He said the tsunami that hit Port Alberni after a 1964 earthquake struck Alaska was the last time a B.C. community saw damage from a tsunami.
"I'm not an expert on these things, but my understanding is that even though we are a low-lying area on the Pacific Ocean, a tsunami seems to be a lower risk," Gardner said.
Nonetheless, Gardner said emergency preparedness is a high priority for local officials. The SEP Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is state of the art, as is the state of Squamish's emergency preparedness plans, Gardner said.
Before the Olympic Games, Squamish officials and citizens took part in three mock disaster scenarios including ones that simulated a Daisy Lake dam burst and a Mashiter Creek debris flow and passed with flying colours, Gardner said.
"Those were done as if they were real events. At the EOC, many of the people who took part in that already work for the [District of Squamish] and are all trained, so in an emergency they would go over there and fulfill various roles," he said.
The last time Squamish's emergency response capabilities were called on in a significant way was during the 2003 flood. Gardner said local crews and the community's preparedness plan performed well during the real-life disaster scenario.
"We are quite well prepared for any emergency including earthquakes, floods and fires," he said. "We're very proud of our situation here. There are three different aspects to our emergency response plan search and rescue, the emergency social services team and then a whole communications team, because it's important that we communicate with the community in any such event." With files from Meagan Robertson, The Chief
