UBC experts provided expert commentary in various media outlets on the magnitude 4.3 earthquake that shook Metro Vancouver late on Dec. 29.
Natural disaster instructor Brett Gilley was quoted in the Vancouver Sun and Calgary Herald. The earthquake is “not alarming” and serves as a reminder for people to prepare for emergencies, Gilley said.
Kent Johansen, a researcher working with UBC’s Earthquake Engineering Research Facility, said an early earthquake warning system developed at UBC gave a few seconds’ warning before the earthquake struck. Even such a short warning can reduce the number of casualties from an earthquake by half, Johansen told media. (CBC News, CBC On the Coast, Global News, Globe and Mail, Huffington Post)
The earthquake is a reminder that people need to be ready for the massive earthquake that’s expected to hit the region sometime in the future, according to Carlos Ventura, director of engineering research at UBC. The UBC warning system, currently set up to alert Vancouver-area Catholic schools, could be extended to other schools, to hospitals and the Skytrain. He also noted that many hospitals and fire stations urgently need a retrofit to make them quake-ready. (CBC News, Georgia Straight, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, The Province)
