As the West Coast fretted over dwindling supplies and a highway closure blocking delivery trucks from coming in, an earthquake hit near Ucluelet.
sa国际传媒淢y wife Barb felt a tremor through her whole body, and I felt a shake in the house that I thought was maybe somebody blasting or an explosion,sa国际传媒� Ucluelet resident Lance Cole told the Westerly News.
The roughly 4.8 magnitude quake hit Ucluelet at 1:35 p.m. on Jan. 24, according to Earthquakes Canada.
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Eugene Stewart Jr. told the Westerly the shaking he felt was intense and all the pictures and window blinds in his Ty-Histanis home began vibrating.
sa国际传媒淚 got up, looked outside, didnsa国际传媒檛 see any big dump trucks going by, that was my first thought,sa国际传媒� he said, adding he looked online and discovered it had, in fact, been an earthquake. sa国际传媒淚t said it was a 4.5 off Ucluelet and I was like, sa国际传媒楳an, that was intense for a 4.5.sa国际传媒� I wonder what a bigger one is gonna be like.sa国际传媒�
Ucluelet mayor Mayco Noel said he did not feel the quake, but received an immediate call from the districtsa国际传媒檚 Chief Administrative Officer Mark Boysen advising him it had occurred.
sa国际传媒淭he first sentence that came out of both our lips when we talked, with the highway being down, was sa国际传媒楻eally? Is this happening?sa国际传媒� We were already dealing with one situation that we seemed to be navigating through, so this was a second one,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭here was no tsunami report, so we were able to, with confidence, know that everything was fine.sa国际传媒�
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He added that the Ucluelet Community Centre and connecting Childrensa国际传媒檚 Centre evacuated to high ground.
sa国际传媒淭hey all hiked up to the BMX track immediately. There was a lot of people that felt it and rather than waiting for information, they just headed for high ground and thatsa国际传媒檚 the right thing to do; donsa国际传媒檛 wait for information, get to high ground,sa国际传媒� he said adding it was fortunately a sunny day at the time for kids to enjoy.
sa国际传媒淭hey were all at the BMX track burning off some energy while the instructors were probably quite stressed out. Thankfully there was no aftermath.sa国际传媒�
Uclueletsa国际传媒檚 fire chief Rick Geddes oversees the communitysa国际传媒檚 emergency management program and told the Westerly he also did not feel the quake, but he heard about it and hopes it reminds residents to be prepared.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e at quite a significant risk compared to other places in the world,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭he big thing is knowing what to do and having a grab and go kit ready, whether itsa国际传媒檚 an earthquake or a tsunami, being prepared if we have an extended power outage as a result or the road is destroyed. Be prepared to be self sufficient for up to 72 hours.sa国际传媒�
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Noel agreed.
sa国际传媒淲e have to realize that we are always at risk of natural disasters or highway closures. When someone says, sa国际传媒楤e prepared for 72 hours,sa国际传媒� that means exactly that: be prepared. I hope that out of the highway [closure] and that little teaser earthquake that people think about that,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淲hat are you going to do for your source of heat? What are you going to do for your groceries? What are you going to do with your neighbours? Are you looking after somebody elderly that you may know? Just really be community minded.sa国际传媒�
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andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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