A major earthquake such as the one that that caused devastation and significant loss of life in Japan last 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 an Chief article about ShakeOut B.C.
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 could be expected 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 late last week 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.
On Monday (March 14), B.C.'s chief provincial health officer issued a statement regarding the release of radiation from two troubled Japanese nuclear reactors. Dr. Perry Kendall said that based on current information, it's not anticipated that the release of "low-level radiation" from the stricken reactors will pose a health risk to British Columbians.
"Modelling of possible scenarios suggest that any release into the atmosphere of nuclear particles would take five to six days to reach British Columbia, by which time it would be so dispersed as to be not considered a health risk," Kendall said.
B.C. officials said pharmacists have reported a run on potassium iodide tablets in some parts of the province. Potassium iodide can protect the thyroid gland from exposure to high levels of iodine 131, officials said.
B.C. officials are recommending that pharmacies refrain from stockpiling and dispensing potassium iodide tablets.
"The consumption of iodide tablets is not a necessary precaution as there is no current risk of radiological i131 exposure," Kendall said. "Even if radiation from Japan ever made it to British Columbia, our prediction based on current information is that it would not pose any significant health risk."
On Friday, Mayor Greg Gardner said a tsunami "is something we certainly do discuss" when they talk about emergency planning, but he was quick to add that earthquakes, floods that originate inland and large fires are considered much more real possibilities.
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 failure of the Daisy Lake Dam 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
