Next Thursday is the annual ShakeOutBC day, and although the Strathcona Regional District’s local exercise and Disaster Preparedness Tradeshow will be cancelled again, there are still ways people can become better prepared for an earthquake.
“The safety of our regional emergency program volunteers is critical, and the concerns of COVID-19 do not support running these annual emergency program events” said SRD Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman. “We still encourage everyone to participate in the British Columbia Shake Out.”
The big shake will take place at 10:21 a.m. on Thursday. People can register at www.shakeoutbc.ca/register.
The Great British Columbia Shake Out already has over 720,000 participants, with over 26.5 million worldwide.
“More than 3,000 earthquakes occur in British Columbia each year. Most are too small to be felt, but the risk of one big enough to cause significant damage is very real,” says the ShakeOutBC website. “Participating in ShakeOutBC is an effective way to better understand BC’s earthquake risk and how to prepare.”
Some small things to do to prepare for an eartquake are a five-minute earthquake hazard hunt to help prevent injuries, set up an out-of-province contact for family members to connect with in case of local communication disruptions, and have walkie talkies that different family members carry with them.
The SRD also provides post-earthquake training sessions on request. They focus on rapid damage assessment, essential first aid and light urban search and rescue. To learn more about this course, please contact Shaun Koopman at skoopman@srd.ca or call 250-830-6702.
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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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