Sunday, October 28, 2012

Earthquakes, tsunamis - oh my

Most people have already heard that there was a 7.1 earthquake last night and a widespread tsunami warning/advisory. I have to question our provincial and municipal authorities because in Victoria there doesn't seem to be a warning system in place. I only found out we were under tsunami advisory after my dad who lived 120 kilometres away FaceTimed me & asked me if we were off to higher ground. There was no emergency broadcast over the tv, nothing, zilch, zip. Kind of disquieting if you ask me. Makes me wonder why we don't have any sirens? We live in an active tectonic area and a tsunami is a very real possibility. I turned to the twittersphere for info and got more info, but what happens if all the wifi and cellular is knocked out? I also listened to Cfax & they had lots of info which they are always reliable and dependable in times of crisis. I think though in the end the different levels of government need to do better to make everyone aware and I think a siren system would be something worthy to think about.

Today it was business as usual, but you always have that niggling fear after what happened last night. We actually enjoyed the waterfront today taking our puppy doggis for a walk, it was pretty crowded on the walkway, I guess everyone was tsunami watching.

7 comments:

RichardM said...

I think I would be bothered by the lack of information or alerts. Maybe because the type and short duration of the earthquake, someone decided that the probability of any significan tsunami was small. I don't know...

David Masse said...

After what happened in Japan there is no excuse for lack of emergency preparedness in BC. L.A. has tsunami signage that is evidence of some type of preparedness but I don't recall seeing anything like that in Vancouver or Victoria.

Pam said...

Oh my! Hope you will all be safe!

Trobairitz said...

They are supposed to have a tsunami warning set up for the coast here but I don't think anything was activated at all. Good thing we're all hooked up to the internet.

Glad you are all okay and had no tidal issues.

VStar Lady said...

The Toronto Globe & Mail reported today that the BC government had an internet glitch which prevented them from sending out timely warnings ... but assured everyone that sirens had been heard in the high risk areas (albeit an hour late.) Glad you are safe and well.

RichardM said...

It really makes one wonder why they would rely on a commercial system, the Internet, for a life/safety system. What have they been smoking...

ToadMama said...

Wow, no warning system? That is quite surprising.