A more serious aside

The events of the past couple of days, namely the massive earthquake and resulting tsunamis affecting Indonesia and other parts of Asia, have brought fears to the fore. Having sent e-mails to two people I know were within the quake's radius, I am currently awaiting confirmation that they and their families are safe, and am constantly logging into my e-mail to check whether word has arrived. At times like these you always worry that it's going to be people you know who are caught up in these events.

A little known fact about Vancouver is that it is situated on the most active earthquake zone in Canada, where three tectonic plates meet. Each year they get about 300 mini quakes; in fact I experienced one of these a few weeks ago whilst standing in a Future Shop queue to buy a computer keyboard. The last major quake here was in 1943, and measured 7.3 on the Richter scale. Every 300 years or so, an 8.5+ quake is recorded, and since the last one was in 1700, the government has recently been preparing for the worst. Predictions are that a quake of magnitude 8.5 or greater would cause landslides and tsunamis along the coast, severely damaging 30% of houses, 60% of older buildings, 15% of high rises, and killing thousands.

To meet this potential threat, many bridges, tunnels, buildings and dams have been reinforced here in recent years, along with the construction of an Emergency Operations Centre and water pumping stations. Allegedly, there is an earthquake program in place to inform residents of what to do in the event of a quake, though I have never seen a pamphlet on the emergency procedures. But I am damn well going to go out and find one in the next couple of days, and read it from cover to cover.

To anyone who has been affected by the devastation in Asia, or if you know someone who has been caught up in it, my thoughts are with you.