Wickaninish Beach near Tofino, B.C., on Tuesday. B.C. Premier David Eby says the province's tsunami response was a good trial run.Dirk Meissner/The Canadian Press
In the end, the tsunami that washed onto Tofino, B.C.’s shores was only about half the height of a school ruler, gently raising the tide and delighting the roughly 300 tourists watching just before midnight Tuesday on Mackenzie Beach.
About seven hours earlier, J. J. Belanger, general manager of the nearby Crystal Cove Beach Resort, went into high alert after news that an underwater earthquake had hit Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula with a preliminary magnitude of 8.8, one of the strongest ever recorded.
Knowing they had some hours until any waves crossed the Pacific Ocean to hit Canada’s West Coast, Mr. Belanger began monitoring stations run by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for updates.
Tsunami advisory for B.C. coast cancelled after 8.8 magnitude earthquake hits Russia
Although the tsunami alert was upgraded at about 6:30 p.m., the American agency soon predicted waves of only about 30 centimetres were expected.
“So we didn’t panic any guests, there were no beach closures, there was just a warning to stay above the high-tide line, and luckily it was low tide,” said Mr. Belanger, who is also chair of the Tourism Association of British Columbia, on Wednesday.
B.C. Premier David Eby said his province’s tsunami response was textbook, noting his government worked with municipalities and regional districts to alert people and ensure they were kept safe in the event a massive wave crashed down.
“It was a good trial run for us, so if we do see a major event in the future, we have a system that should work to deliver that warning to British Columbia,” he said Wednesday at an unrelated press conference in Kitimat.
A tsunami advisory sign at Pacific Rim National Park near Tofino on Tuesday.Dirk Meissner/The Canadian Press
Beyond B.C., the quake sent small tsunami waves into Japan, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.
Several people were injured, but none gravely, and no major damage has been reported so far.
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, residents in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula there fled inland as ports flooded, and several were injured while rushing to leave buildings.
Mr. Belanger said his resort and visitors in the height of Tofino’s high season had already had a trial run for tsunami preparedness three weeks ago, when a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Alaska tripped the region’s sirens out of an abundance of caution.
He said he and his staff were able to evacuate the resort in about 11 minutes – well below the 15-minute threshold to get to high ground in the event a quake happens in the Cascadia subduction zone off North America’s West Coast.
“It was very good practice, and we were ready to do it again yesterday,” he said.
Katsu Goda, professor and Canada Research Chair in multi-hazard risk assessment at Western University in London, Ont., said he was chatting with his family when the e-mail alert came in about the earthquake.
Dr. Goda, who is in the midst of an international research project measuring tsunami risk in Tofino and other coastal communities, said the distance these waves need to travel doesn’t necessarily dictate how forceful they will be once they reach landfall. That’s because they conserve much of their energy while speeding across oceans at 800 kilometres an hour.
When Japanese news stations began reporting smaller waves, he knew B.C. would face nearly no risk.
Still, Dr. Goda said, it’s hard to know whether such a massive earthquake on the other side of the massive basin known as the Ring of Fire would alleviate pressure on North America’s West Coast and lessen the probability of more earthquakes hitting here.
Dr. Goda said what is clear is that B.C.’s coast is due for a massive earthquake – and attendant tsunami – every 500 years or so.
The last one recorded orally by local First Nations occurred in 1700, he said, and soil samples from the coast confirm a massive intrusion of saltwater around that time.
If and when a similar earthquake occurs, Dr. Goda said his research shows a worst-case scenario of a 10-metre tsunami could wipe out half of the luxury real estate dotting Tofino’s many beaches.
“It would be hugely devastated,” he said.
With a report from The Canadian Press