infrastructure and indirect losses due to
supply-chain interruptions and network
disruptions) of nearly $75 billion, of which
only an estimated $20 billion will be
offset by insurance. Even in Japan and
New Zealand, where earthquake funding
and resiliency plans were in place prior to
their earthquakes, recovery is taking 10
years and entire communities have been
forever changed.
The Juan de Fuca Plate, which extends 1,100
km along the Pacific coastline from B.C. to
California, is one of several locked plates in
the Cascadia Subduction Zone. When pent-up
THE;THREAT;OF;A;MAJOR;EARTHQUAKE;IN;B.C. has received attention over the past few
years as a result of our increased understanding of two bleak realities:
1) The threat is larger and more imminent
than had been previously estimated.
Natural Resources Canada now predicts
that there is a 30% chance of a significant earthquake happening off the coast
of British Columbia in the next 50 years.
2) The potential level of damage and the
cost of recovery are both higher than had
been previously estimated. According to
a comprehensive impact study by AIR
Worldwide6 for the Insurance Bureau of
Canada in 2013, a 9M event hitting B.C.’s
southwest will have a total economic loss
(including direct losses to property and
4 Earthquake Study: www.ibc.ca/ns/resources/studies/air-study
EARTHQUAKE
