Credit USGS
# 6672
Overnight, while I was offline, a 7.7 quake struck the sparsely populated Haida Gwaii region, or Queen Charlotte Islands, on the northern coast of British Columbia.
There are no reports, as yet, on injuries or damages. Since the initial quake, there have been dozens of aftershocks, some as strong as 5.1.
Crawford Kilian, over at Crofsblog, lives south of there on Vancouver Island, and has blogged a number of times on the quake including here, here, and here.
Although a minor tsunami was apparently generated, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has recently downgraded the earlier alerts for Hawaii with the following advisory.
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
101 AM HST SUN OCT 28 2012TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII
SUBJECT - TSUNAMI ADVISORY
THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW CANCELLED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.
A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE
AT 1254 AM HST.AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 0504 PM HST 27 OCT 2012
COORDINATES - 52.8 NORTH 131.8 WEST
LOCATION - QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS REGIONMAGNITUDE - 7.7 MOMENT
EVALUATION
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THE TSUNAMI THREAT HAS DECREASED AND IS NOW AT THE ADVISORY LEVEL AND NOT EXPECTED TO INCREASE. SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG CURRENTS MAY STILL OCCUR ALONG ALL COASTS THAT COULD BE A HAZARD TO SWIMMERS AND BOATERS AS WELL AS TO PERSONS NEAR THE SHORE AT BEACHES AND IN HARBORS AND MARINAS. THE THREAT MAY CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS. MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
During the summer of 2011 I wrote extensively on Canada & the United State’s west coast earthquake and tsunami threat in a blog called Just A Matter Of Time.
The location of this quake, well north of the populated centers of Vancouver and Washington state, greatly diminished its impact.
The next time, we may not be so lucky.
Which is why, 10 days ago, more than a half million residents of British Columbia took part in The Great British Columbia Shakeout drill.
They, along with a dozen other regions around the world, practiced Drop, Cover, and Hold On! as part of this yearly event (see NPM12: A Whole Lotta Shakeouts Going On).
A destructive quake somewhere along the Pacific Northwest coast is, as I said earlier, just a matter of time. We can’t predict when, and we certainly can’t stop it from happening.
Leaving being ready for it as the only logical recourse.
For a comprehensive guide on how you can prepare for `the big one’ (even if you live someplace other than Los Angeles), I would recommend you download, read, and implement the advice provided by the The L. A. County Emergency Survival Guide.
Everyone should have a disaster plan. Everyone should have a good first aid kit, a `bug-out bag’, and sufficient emergency supplies to last a bare minimum of 72 hours.
For more on disaster preparedness, I would invite you to visit:
