The Big One: How a megathrust earthquake could hit the Pacific Northwest

CityNews brings you interviews with leading experts in the fields of science, engineering and natural preparedness to give you a full scale picture of what a magnitude 9.0 earthquake could look like in Vancouver and surrounding areas. Our team also tells you what you need to do to prepare for this natural disaster and shares how science is working around the clock to provide an alert system to warn residents of an impending earthquake.

00:00 Introduction
01:47 Part One
20:44 Part Two

[jonmitchell]

An excellent resource team!! Well done!

[TheMotArt]

I'm from Mexico City, and by experience I must say, the only thing that can protect you from an earthquake is luck... being in the right place at the right time is all it takes.

[sixela]

I moved from Mexico City 6 years ago and have experienced a couple of strong earthquakes. I'm very impressed on how little is talked about "The Big One" here in Vancouver. I think the level of destruction and caos that it'll bring to the West Coast is very underrated. I went through the 2017 Mexico City-Puebla earthquake which was 7.1 and it was terrifying to live, now a 9.0 ... thinking about it gives me chills.

[yogidemis]

The Big one hits, nothing we can do except enjoy the ride and hope that you make it out alive. Mother nature has no remorse and we are all guests on her home.

[trevor]

I am a Canadian (from Vancouver Island) and Kiwi living in NZ. I was there for the Christchurch earthquake (which was relatively local and not a tectonic quake), and given that experience I have serious concerns about the time taken to update standards and mitigation for such an earthquake. I would also like to see a critical assessment at Federal level of how Canada would react to support the west of Canada in such an event, given that according to first nations accounts, the last 'big one' was felt well into Alberta. Some review of the ability to ship support teams, and particularly supplies over the Rockies into the west of Canada. One must assume that train and road links will be cut, which leaves shipping by water and by air. Where is the information about the resilience of airfields and docking facilities, plus the routes emanating from those to ship critical resources?
As I understand this the US is taking this issue more urgently and conducts drills for their military to engage to do post-quake resupply - has the Canadian Federal Government done such an assessment and done exercises in this area? If so, to what extend and what were the results?

[carlascrivens]

This blows my mind..spent some of the best times of my life in Vancouver, back in the '80's..God Bless

[drissakelnya]

We used to talk about this all the time in the early 90's, it was discussed in school in Vancouver, we had earthquake kits. I don't think it is as prevalent to discuss any longer out here.

[glennkemp]

Back in the 90s this is all people talked about on the west coast. All old buildings, like the ones mentioned had to be seismicly upgraded, we were told to have earthquake kits and be prepared for "the big one". Then when the real estate boom started everyone stopped talking about earthquakes. I don't doubt that there is an earthquake risk but I have to wonder about the renewed interest in promoting it.

[tanyajones]

Iam amazed at how many folks do not pay attention about this nor have knowledge about this, its shocking! Thank you for the well collect show i enjoyed it

[brianprez]

Great job on this. That is a reporter/journalist masterpiece. Thanks

[kruszer]

I'm from Ottawa but I'm grateful that I somehow knew that hiding under a table was the correct course of action during an earthquake! I was alone on the second floor of a 120 year-old house in San Diego in 2010 when a 5.7 hit - and it was terrifying! It was instinct to dive under the sturdy desk I'd been sitting at once the floor started sliding underneath me, It felt like the entire house was rolling back and forth like it was on wheels. The walls were moving back and forth too, like the entire house was a cube of jello. I was expecting the desk and I to end up on the lawn and I've never been so scared in my life! And THAT was just 5.7 for almost a minute - not the big one for 4 or 5 minutes! Trust me: You're not going to want to be standing up when it hits and things start falling off walls around you! You're going to want to hide under the first thing you see as you scream for it to stop!

[carlascrivens]

Thank you so much for this, I lived in Seattle back in the early '80's, right after Mt St Helen's blew and this was never talked about..I never knew..thank you again

[angelicfedora]

This is good to see, there are very few 'big one' videos that discuss the Canada side, they're mostly from a US point of view. However, it's a shame though that other areas around the Lower Mainland weren't also covered, after all the shaking won't stop at Vancouver! How far inland will the effects be felt for instance.

The other thing you didn't mention (unless I missed it ) was the Disaster Support Hub Locations around Vancouver which can be found on the City of Vancouver website. I have added this to the route list for our contractors at work in case a disaster happens during the work day.

[Dparsons]

I had a dream of this many times. I’m from the island and I had one a few months ago and woke up crying. Terrified. I felt my head vibrate from the shaking so strong and then I was shown the tsunami coming.

[cb-ql]

Years ago in a UBC geology class, the prof told us that if the under-water Fraser River outwash plain collapses in a submarine landslide during a big earthquake, the resulting tsumani could be hundreds - you read that correctly - hundreds of feet high and wash RIGHT OVER some of the Gulf Islands. It would reach Vancouver Island within 10 minutes.

[susanfernandes]

Don't forget to deal with the toilet issues. I have a big supply of kitty litter, plastic bags and TP. Plastic bag into the toilet bowl, kitty litter in the bottom and layer the kitty litter on top. Store the bags outside until the whole thing is resolved.

[Uzkodas]

I’m from the US version of Vancouver in Washington State and I have to say that there have been a few times I lost some sleep because of the Cascadia Subduction zone

[christopherwanamaker]

This is a prime example of why more people need to get more prepared and think about "Emergency Preparedness Management" for both your home and vehicles. I am a YouTuber under my Full-Name with the same profile picture as this post with 47 videos covering 27 different category topic subjects sharing my personal knowledge and experiences with others to help others improve their overall adult lives. I've got videos on building yourself a high quality 24-72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bags, Home and Vehicle Preparedness and Readiness advice videos, several Financial Literacy advice videos, a dozen Cooking Creation Recipes videos, and more!

[Enn-]

I'd love to see CityNews do an article like this on the strange phenomena of "newscaster voice". Maybe they can find some form of treatment.

[rossgee]

Why did you not address liquefaction of sedimentary basins; i.e., all of the Fraser valley and any other river basin on the west coast.