What’s Shaking on the Quiet Coast?

There wasn’t the vision to have the provisions in our building codes to ensure buildings were properly designed. But building standards are much improved now, and we know so much more about earthquakes, and now we’ve dramatically upgraded our building codes. Secondly, science has produced better-engineered materials and better engineered designs. We are now able to build structures that are more resistant to earthquakes than we could years ago, so both of those work to improve the new construction, but we’re still stuck with this old building stock. There are a bunch of vulnerable public buildings in the older parts of Vancouver.

Asian Journal: They say earthquakes don’t kill people, it’s the buildings, so how do you prepare to ensure your surroundings don’t do you in? John Clague: From a preparedness point of view, you can do a lot to prepare your surroundings so they don’t kill you. A lot of the injury or loss of life occurs in the interior of buildings, it’s non-structural. In Christchurch there were two buildings that collapsed and most of the deaths were attributed to that. But inside other buildings that stayed upright there were a lot of people who were injured due to debris flying around. Broken glass is another hazard, especially if people have been sleeping and jump out of bed and run around without shoes on. It’s those common mundane things that can do a lot of damage and injury.

Next week, Dr. Clague will discuss the ramifications around the great subduction event involving the Cascadia Fault.