Residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadow are being urged to take part in international earthquake drills happening today.
On Oct. 17 at 10:17 a.m. the cities will join with millions of people worldwide practicing their earthquake response as they drop, cover and hold.
The city of Maple Ridge advises residents to prepare and ensure they know what to do in case of an earthquake, whether at home, school, work, or on the road. The City of Pitt Meadows is also taking part, and urging residents to be prepared.
B.C. is the most seismically active area of Canada and has thousands of minor earthquakes every year. A reminder of that came just weeks ago, which a quake near Victoria was felt across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. There were no reports of damage, and a 4-magnitude trembler generally does not bring an expectation of damage.
Generally, a quake between 3.4 and 5.4 will be felt, but rarely cause damage. A level 6 can cause damage to poorly constructed buildings and a major earthquake is considered a 7. The scale goes up to a 9. A damaging earthquake happens about once per decade in B.C., according to Earthquakes Canada.
The Great British Columbia Shake Out, organized by the British Columbia Earthquake Alliance (BCEA), is an annual opportunity for individuals, communities, schools, and organizations to practise essential earthquake safety measures. There were more than 56 million participants worldwide, and 725,000 in B.C., with most of those in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
For more information, see shakeoutbc.ca
