Civil in the news: EERF experts discussion of recent Metro Vancouver earthquake widely covered

Tuesday, January 5, 2016 | By Lindsay Cashin

Still image above shows data transmitted by the system’s seismometers during the M4.8 earthquake. Watch the entire event unfold.

Civil engineering experts provided expert commentary in various media outlets on the magnitude 4.3 earthquake that shook Metro Vancouver late on Dec. 29.

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 NewsCBC On the CoastGlobal NewsGlobe and MailHuffington 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 the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility 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 NewsGeorgia StraightVancouver SunOttawa CitizenThe Province)