Alaska earthquake highlights tsunami risk for coastal communities in British Columbia

A large earthquake late Saturday night off the coast of Alaska briefly caused concern about a possible tsunami along the coast of British Columbia.

The 7.2-magnitude quake occurred about 100 km from Sand Point in the Alaskan Peninsula at 10:48 a.m. local time.

Tsunami sirens can be heard in many communities – sending people to shelters.

“When a tsunami is imminent, you need to get to higher ground,” said Michael Bostock, a University of British Columbia professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. “High ground will save you wanting to be several tens of meters above the shoreline.”

Within minutes of the earthquake, the British Columbia government used its Emergency Info BC Twitter account to announce the earthquake assessment.

About an hour after the shaking stopped, the same account tweeted that “there is no tsunami risk on #BC”.

After a major earthquake, officials evaluate all available data to produce the most accurate risk assessment possible. Specific #BC information will be shared as soon as it becomes available. https://t.co/qIo3naNvCk

– Emergency Info BC (@EmiticalInfoBC) July 16, 2023

If there had been a tsunami, it would have taken three to five hours to reach parts of mainland BC and parts of Vancouver Island.

According to Bostock, tsunamis can move through deep ocean waters at speeds of more than 700 km/h.

In the event of an earthquake near the west coast of Vancouver Island, the first waves could reach coastal communities like Tofino within minutes.

“Everyone is planning for the worst-case scenario, which is a large subduction earthquake off the coast, and that will give us about 20 minutes,” Tofino Mayor Dan Low said.

In partnership with Ottawa, the British Columbia government is building an earthquake early warning system capable of predicting earthquakes in the moments before they happen.

“In particular, the early warning of the great early warning off our shores is becoming a reality,” Bostock said. “You’ll hear very soon about implementing early warnings so people can download apps and so on. I understand that’s kind of within the time frame of the next year or so.”

The system may only provide seconds of warning, but that may be enough for people to take shelter from potential dangers.

It is expected to become operational sometime in 2024.

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