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Fri 16 Sep, 2005 07:13 pm
...into the pacific ocean !
seismologissts are getting concerned about a gradual move of vancouver island westward. while it is not yet possible to predict when vancouver island will topple into the pacific, seismologists are saying it is not "if" but "when". i saw an interview with one of the scientists on TV and he certainly was quite concerned. he stated it has only now been posssible to make these measurements using the latest scientific instruments.
i guess we won't be moving tovancouver island any more. sure is beautiful out there - no winters, but ... wouldn't want to be tipped into the pacific. hbg
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(from canadian press)
Vancouver Island moving westward
CP 2005-09-14 03:26:10
VANCOUVER -- Residents may not feel it, but Vancouver Island is in the middle of moving west in what seismologists call a tremor and slip event.
The phenomenon is equal to an earthquake of 6.5 to 6.7 on the Richter scale, but instead of happening in 10 seconds, it happens over two weeks.
"We think that it's one of these events that will trigger the big mega-thrust earthquake," seismologist John Cassidy of the Pacific Geoscience Centre in Sidney, B.C., said yesterday.
"We just don't know which one of these events will trigger the giant earthquake."
More sensitive global satellite technology led to the discovery that every 14 months Vancouver Island moved towards Japan by about five millimetres.
Cassidy said they connected that movement with a type of seismic grinding of the ocean plates and discovered the tremor and slip event.
"This new information is allowing us to better understand where these earthquakes occur, and how large they can be, and how the ground will shake," he said.
However, he conceded they will likely never be able to accurately predict when and exactly where a quake would happen.
Experts at the Pacific Geoscience Centre, a federal government agency on Vancouver Island, are conferring with seismologists around the world on the event.
From all I read and hear, the West Coast is just about due for a mega-quake. Next year will mark the centennial of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake which destroyed most of the city and caused Oakland, across the Bay, to lean at nearly a 45 degree angle. These natural disasters, especially earthquakes, tend to come in roughly 100-year cycles. The next one may well travel up and down the entire Coast.
i don't think i'll be attending the centennial celebrations, even though we enjoyed our visits to the westcoast very much. speaking to an "exile" from our hometown in eastern ontario who had retired to victoria/vancouver island some years ago, i mentioned the threat of an earthquake to him. his answer was : " if i'd stayed in ontario, i'd have died of a heart-attack shovelling snow long ago !".
i received a similar answer from an ontarion who had retired to miami beach (he was working at the front-desk of a small hotel), when we decided to leave early for home because of the threat of a hurricane. he said : "we just stay in our appartment for the next couple of days; it'll be all over in two days.
perhaps there is somthing to be said for that attitude when you are a senior, but it would be different for a young family, i think.
i doubt that many people on vancouver island and along the west-coast will be moving away anytime soon. we are living on the st. lawrence river fault-line and while there has been the odd rumble, there haven't been any major shocks ... yet.
i was speaking with my insurance agent a while ago and asked him if our policy covered earth-quake damage. the answer was : NO ! when i asked what it would cost to have earth-quake damage added to our policy, he told me that the premium would increase by about 50 % - so we did nothing. ... perhaps we should add the coverage ??? hbg
hamburger wrote:....when i asked what it would cost to have earth-quake damage added to our policy, he told me that the premium would increase by about 50 % - so we did nothing. ... perhaps we should add the coverage ??? hbg
I'd heard about the V.I. thing, too. Wasn't by much, but the fact that it is, sure is interesting.
We also decided not to get earthquake coverage, as too expensive. Of course, we live in a townhouse complex and it would only cover the contents. The strata council insures the buildings themselves. So, I guess in a roundabout way, I pay for some coverage in my monthly strata payments.
The west coast seems to be quite active, with a bulge growing in Oregon.
Here is a link with an excerpt:
http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ap_050906_sisters_bulge.html
They say it probably began growing in 1997 and has been rising ever since at a rate of about 1.4 inches a year. It was first observed from space using a relatively new imaging technology known as radar interferometry that can measure changes in the Earth's surface.
The likely cause of the bulge is a pool of magma that, according to Deschutes National Forest geologist Larry Chitwood, is equal in size to a lake 1 mile across and 65 feet deep.
The magma lake is rising 10 feet each year, under tremendous pressure, and it deforms the Earth's surface as it expands, causing the bulge.
BBB
Keep an eye on the Cascadia slip fault zone:
http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/DEEPTREM/gps2004.html
BBB
I was just thinking, 'ham', it's a good thing that we don't have a bridge connecting the mainland and the island, eh? Before you know, there would be a gap at one end!
bbb suggests : "Keep an eye on the Cascadia slip fault zone".
i think i'd rather keep my eyes shut !
Hamburger
hamburger wrote:bbb suggests : "Keep an eye on the Cascadia slip fault zone".
i think i'd rather keep my eyes shut !
Serious threat not only of a 9+ earthquake, but also a Pacific Ocean wide tsunami.
BBB
Yikes, yawl. and another hurricane warning for the Keys. This ain't good either. Anyone remember the continental drift theory?
I don't mind 'burger.
It's a fun ferry trip.
panzade : yes, it's a beautiful ferry-ride from vancouver to ... where is the island that was there yesterday ?
quite seriously, it seems to be worrysome to think of what might happen to beautiful vancouver island. hbg
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