Plate tectonics: Click on image to enlarge.

"The team was designed for emergency response in Vancouver, but during a catastrophic earthquake, I have no illusions that they would be able to come out," Inglis says. "The bridges could be out, roads impassable, and they would have their own families to take care of."

He saw this problem firsthand while doing search and rescue work in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. The Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue Team was the first Canadian team to respond to the disaster. Inglis says many local Louisianan police and firefighters couldn’t show up as they faced their own problems at home.

‘Big one’ could be a reality

Garry Rogers, seismologist for the Geological Survey of Canada, says that while the chances of the ‘Big one’ occurring are slim, it’s still a possibility.

Two months ago, he contacted emergency planners and media to let them know he and his co-workers were observing Episodic Tremor and Slip along the Cascadia subduction zone – an event which is believed to be a precursor to a large earthquake.

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The seismologist’s observations created a media frenzy as newspapers ran with headlines of "BC braces for possible earthquake," and "BC put on alert for huge quake." Rogers says he was surprised by the hype. These events occur every 14 months and he has notified the media of these tremors and slips before.

He also says the media made it seem as if he was predicting the ‘Big One’ was imminent. "We can’t predict earthquakes," Rogers says . "But every time you have one of these slips, you have more chance of having a large earthquake."

Rogers says if the "Big One" were to happen, Vancouver Island would be hardest hit. He says older buildings would collapse, sewage pipes would burst, bridges would fall, and a large tsunami could follow.

Police expanding emergency program

Gale McMahon, who works as an emergency planning officer for the Vancouver Police Department’s Emergency Planning Unit, says her team is working to ensure police are ready and able to respond.

Damage in B.C. could match that in Kobe, Japan after a 1995 earthquake.

For example, McMahon says she and four other co-workers have started providing emergency preparedness classes to officers’ families. Classes teach light urban search and rescue skills and help families identify potential local hazards in their neighbourhoods, such as a river prone to flooding.

"Personnel on duty won’t be worth anything if they’re worried about their families," McMahon says. "It’s about having supplies ready at home so they’ll know their families are taken care of."

For officers who are off-duty during a large-scale earthquake and can't report for work due to downed bridges or impassable roads, McMahon says they would be expected to offer assistance in their own neighbourhoods. She says her unit is working on a plan to keep officers in this situation in communication with the central command post.

Daniel Stevens, emergency planning coordinator for the City of Vancouver, says there are plans in place to help local police, fire, and ambulance workers move around after a natural disaster.

Dealing with destroyed infrastructure

"There are signs on our streets which designate roads for first-responders," he says. "We all have disaster response route logos on the back of our driver’s licences, giving us the authority to use the roads."

Stevens says if bridges collapse, first-responders carrying these driver’s licences will be given priority on emergency ferries. Police officers, firemen, government officials, construction workers can have these licenses, he says.

Stevens says local police, firefighters, and emergency workers have also been told to go directly to the Emergency Operations Centre – a well-known building located in southeast Vancouver.

If communication equipment is destroyed, Stevens says the city has a back-up radio system, which the Centre will use to coordinate the response effort with other municipal and provincial emergency operations centres. It's housed in a mobile vehicle so it can be moved if the Centre is damaged, Stevens says. The city also has a secretly-located back-up radio facility located in a fire hall.

If local emergency workers cannot meet the demand for help during a large-scale disaster, Stevens says the municipalities would request help or supplies from the province. The province would then ask the federal government and the Canadian Forces to step in if it were unable to meet the need.

Overall, Stevens says it’s important for residents to be prepared to be on their own for the first 72 hours at a minimum.

"In a large-scale disaster, local responders won’t be able to meet the demand for everyone. They’ll be working on the most critical situations," he says. "If neighbourhoods are prepared, it will relieve some stress."

Related Links Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue Geological Survey of Canada British Columbia Earthquake Response Plan 1999 [PDF] Track the latest earthquakes! International Strategy for Disaster Reduction