We have made significant investments over the past decade to assess earthquake risk, upgrade infrastructure, and develop emergency plans, but more work is required to lessen the impact of an earthquake on the city
In 2013, we developed the Earthquake Preparedness Strategy to better understand the risk and reduce the impact of an earthquake in Vancouver.
Our progress
The Earthquake Preparedness Strategy identifies 56 actions in the following categories.
Read about the strategy
View the Earthquake Preparedness Strategy presentation PDF file (3 MB)
Volunteers and community
Volunteers and community
Volunteering and preparing for an earthquake
Volunteers and community
Building resilience and responding to disasters is a shared responsibility. Individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations have a major role to play in earthquake preparedness, response, and recovery. In previous disasters, such as the Christchurch Earthquake in 2011, formal and informal community groups emerged to save lives, support each other, and work collectively towards recovery.
Initiatives in place to engage the community in preparedness, response, and recovery
- Providing emergency preparedness education through workshops and public events to residents and businesses
- Engaging individuals in a number of our emergency volunteer programs
- Working with businesses and community groups to prepare for a coordinated response
- Establishing 25 disaster support hubs to facilitate community support following an earthquake
Our goal
A resilient community where individuals, families, businesses, and organizations work together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from earthquakes.
Our progress
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Critical services
Critical services
Water, sewer, roads, training, and more
Critical services
Many of us take for granted the critical services we depend on every day. These include services provided day-to-day by our networked utilities such as clean water from the tap, power at the flick of a switch, household toilets, uninterrupted cell service, and clear transit routes, as well as those provided following a disaster such as emergency response coordination and public information. An earthquake could compromise many of these important services with cascading consequences.
During the Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquake in 2011, 80% of Christchurch was without power and water and wastewater services were disrupted throughout the city. Christchurch implemented plans to provide temporary services and keep the public informed of restoration and recovery efforts.
Our Earthquake Preparedness Strategy actions aim to improve the resilience of City-owned critical systems to:
- Minimize damage and associated impacts
- Develop plans for temporary provision of critical services
- Ensure staff are trained and equipped to support the overall coordination of emergency response and recovery
Programs, facilities, and plans in place
Water systems
We have invested in our ability to fight fires as quickly and efficiently as possible after an earthquake by creating:
- A dedicated fire protection system; a $52 million system that will make sure there is a reliable supply of water for fighting fires in high-density areas of downtown, Kitsilano, and Fairview Slopes (We are currently working on improving capacity in the other areas of the city.)
- Emergency wells for firefighting, which increases our ability to get water for firefighting, by using fire boats to pump water and purchasing above-ground hydrant extension equipment
Sewer systems
- We are working with the region to to increase the seismic resilience of sewer infrastructure by upgrading it
- Metro Vancouver
has completed regional plans to upgrade treatment plants
Energy systems
We have:
- Worked with BC Hydro to ensure our electrical grid has added redundancy, which means less power outages and a more resilient electrical grid; a legacy of the 2010 Winter Games
- Developed Neighbourhood Energy Utility Strategy to help reduce reliance on the electrical grid
- Developed the Renewable City Strategy to reduce our dependency on energy grids by facilitating the ability for energy to be generated locally and reducing buildings energy requirements
Transportation systems
Over the last few decades we have been working to upgrade the resilience of the road network by:
- Completing $14 million in bridge seismic upgrades over the past 20 years
- Developing disaster response routes to facilitate the movement of responders
Communications and information
- Developed response plans that are reliant on redundant communications methods
- Established an emergency communications volunteer organization (VECTOR) to provide auxiliary emergency communications to ourselves and our partners
Training and operations
We conduct regular emergency training and exercises for City staff and key partners so that they are familiar with their role in our emergency plans. To complement training and readiness of City staff, we have trained other teams that are essential to our response and recovery from an event, including:
- Vancouver Volunteer Corp
- The Canada Task Force 1 multi-purpose team, which is critical in responding to trapped people in damaged buildings and structures and support a wide range of other disaster response activities
Our goal
To ensure our critical infrastructure is resilient, and we are prepared to coordinate overall response and recovery efforts.
Our progress
Water systems
The water system includes delivering water from the regional distribution system to homes, business, and critical locations such as hospitals and fire hydrants.
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Sewer systems
The sewer system removes excess water and sewage for treatment at one of the regional sewer treatment facilities. We build on the latest environmental studies to collect rainwater and stormwater runoff from buildings, roads, and parking lots to carry into the local waterways, like Burrard Inlet.
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Energy systems
Many critical services rely on the consistent provision of energy. We have plans:
- For backup power at key facilities
- To encourage the public to consider reducing their dependency on the power grid and use alternate power sources where feasible
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Transportation systems
Earthquake preparedness for our transportation system means considering how:
- To increase the resilience of our transportation network
- To assess its safety after an earthquake
- People and response vehicles will move around after an earthquake
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Communications and information
Communications systems and public information is critical following an earthquake. Responders need resilient technical systems in place to coordinate efforts. We need resilient systems to communicate with the public, and the public needs to know what is safe, where emergency services are being provided, and how they can access recovery support.
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Training and operations
Continuously training staff and volunteers is critical to an effective event response. Staff fill various roles from first responders operating the Emergency Operations Centre to carrying out rapid building damage assessments. We also want to ensure important City functions can continue throughout the response and recovery of an earthquake.
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Buildings
Our Earthquake Strategy includes actions to reduce the likelihood and consequences of damage to both civic facilities and private buildings:
- The majority of injuries and deaths in earthquakes are from damage to structural and non-structural components of buildings.
- Damaged civic facilities can result in reduced emergency response capacity and delays in overall response and recovery operations.
- Building collapse and damage can significantly delay the recovery of a city, resulting in long-term displacement of residents, businesses, and industry.
Programs, facilities, and plans in place
Civic buildings
- Built a post-disaster Emergency Operations Centre to coordinate our response to an earthquake.
Private buildings
- Since the early 1970s, we have mandated seismic upgrades to existing buildings when they are renovated.
- We were the first and only jurisdiction in Canada to mandate seismic design for one and two family homes in the early 2000s. These are only now being required in the Provincial Building Code.
Our goal
To reduce the risk of earthquake building damage through the collaboration of scientists, engineers, building developers, building owners, and government.
Our progress
Civic buildings
We own more than 300 buildings and properties. These include buildings providing City services but also leased or rented properties.
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Private buildings
City Council and staff are always working to make Vancouver's homes and buildings safer, healthier, and more accessible for all residents, workers, and visitors. Seismic regulations for new buildings and for renovations are found in the Vancouver Building Bylaw.
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