Sensors at Powell River Catholic School detect earthquakes

Sensors installed by the University of British Columbia under the seismic activity monitoring of the Assumption School

While it was announced that Canada’s first seismic monitoring system sensor would be installed in Horseshoe Bay, the Assumption School has had a seismic sensor in place for several years.

Horseshoe Bay Sensor will be among the hundreds that will eventually give Canadians extra seconds to prepare for a major earthquake. With a sensor buried in the Assumption Stadium, the school is part of a network set up by the University of British Columbia (UBC) to monitor seismic activity, which gives the school real-time feedback if the ground shakes.

Acting President Angela Bennett said recent news coverage of the Horseshoe Bay installation made it sound like the sensor would be the first ever in the area, but it isn’t.

Mark Watson, who teaches seventh and eighth graders, said the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility at the University of British Columbia installed the equipment. Watson said he doesn’t remember the exact year the system was implemented, but he believes it was 2016.

“At that time, they put two sensors in our field, and they were buried about two meters deep,” Watson said. “They are connected to our school’s computer network, where it is connected to UBC via the Internet. They come to service it once a year.”

All Catholic schools in the Diocese of Vancouver have these systems in place, Watson said. The school funded the installation of the system.

“Apparently, the University of British Columbia, to make this program a success, needed an organization and a partnership for the diocese with them,” Watson said. “If we find out something, it’s going to UBC, [the university] It checks the type of activity, determines if it matches what is necessary, then sends the alarm to everyone. The only time I know it blew up was a few years ago during spring break. There was an earthquake near Victoria. The entire system went off to warn everyone.”

Watson said the system could provide anywhere from 15 to 90 seconds of warning. It appears not only in school, but also in the Assumption Church and the rectory.

The alarm is loud, Bennett said, like the sirens of air raids.

Watson said the system does not need to detect seismic activity only when the alarm is assumed to be triggered. Anywhere in the system the alarm can be triggered.

Bennett said the school does earthquake drills several times a year. She added that she must be rehearsed three times in the school year.

Once during the year, the school participates in BC ShakeOut, where the entire system is officially tested. The current school year took place on October 20, 2021, and millions of people around the world have practiced launch, cover, and hold on.

“Kids go under their desk or into the hallway, depending on where they are,” Bennett said. “When everything is clear, that’s when we go out. Each class has an earthquake emergency kit with water bottles, bandages, and emergency blankets, and the kids are trained to bring those with us.”

Bennett said the UBC program connection provides an extra layer of security for the school in terms of them getting warning time.

Having the system in place is a kind of insurance, Watson said.

“I want to have it, but I don’t want to use it at all,” he added. “I’d prefer that this alarm never go off, but if we need it, it’s there.”

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