More than 300 years since last major quake in Lower Mainland: expert
Posted August 25, 2014 7:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Could we see a large-scale earthquake hit the Lower Mainland anytime soon?
We checked in with an expert after a powerful quake rocked the Napa County in Northern California yesterday morning. The magnitude-6 shaker caused major damage to buildings and injured more than 100 people.
SFU Earth Sciences professor Brent Ward says the last large earthquake to hit us was on January 26th in 1700 and it typically happens every 300 years. “Sometimes a little longer; sometimes there’s a 700 or 900 year gap.”
“So we’re in the zone where we might expect another quake, but we don’t know if it will happen tomorrow or in 200 years,” says Ward.
He adds yesterday’s shaker California’s wine region doesn’t change the likelihood of it happening here.
