Hi everyone,

As we begin the final sprint in our year, I wanted to reach out with a few quick updates.  It was great to visit with some of you in person at the Building Resilient Communities Conference in Penticton last week!

Thank you to everyone who led events and amplified ShakeOut Week in BC.  Together, we engaged with over 867,500 people in BC who officially signed up to practise their  “Drop, Cover, and Hold On!” response to earthquake shaking at school, in the office, at home, or in the community. Worldwide, 59.8 million people signed up and participated in our annual ShakeOut drill to date in 2025! If you missed it, there is still time to sign up to practice your drill this year until December 31st.

April 13-19, 2026 – Planning for Tsunami Preparedness Week is underway.  

Tsunami preparedness is a great time to raise awareness of Tsunami risk where you live, work, learn and play. We are currently accepting expressions of interest from communities that would like to receive an educational visit from us and we are working with our financial partners and sponsors to determine our capacity.   If you missed it, please listen to the excellent presentation by Prof. Lucinda Leonard here.  Dr. Leonard raised awareness of tsunami preparedness on all of BC’s Coasts.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDg4cBmGXxY. 

If you are interested in hosting a High Ground Hike this year, please contact PreparedBC: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-management/education-programs-toolkits/high-ground-hike

Financial Support/Giving Tuesday is December 2nd – Our capacity to support communities is reliant on financial support.  We welcome sponsorships and other financial (unreceipted contributions) to support our work.  Anyone interested in helping with our Fundraising Committee is asked to reach out.  

Thanks to our members, we were eligible to apply for a Gaming Grant this year.  At present we are awaiting news.  Please support the generous sponsors and financial partners who keep this work growing: https://bcearthquakealliance.ca/partners/

Outreach to K-12 educators – As one of our strategic priorities this year, we have been reaching out to listen to K-12 educators to learn more about their needs relating to earthquake and tsunami preparedness.  This fall, we were pleased to meet with the BC Teachers’ Federation and this week we will be at the First Nations Education Steering Committee Conference.  We also had a wonderful opportunity to engage with classrooms via the By the Seat of Your Pants e-learning platform.  Thanks to our friends at Ocean Networks Canada for including us!  We have launched a survey to gain input from K-12 educators.  Please share the link with any educators in your circle:  https://survey.alchemer-ca.com/s3/50434926/2025-K-to-12-Educator-Survey

Reinforcing important earthquake preparedness messaging

Resources for Households-We are seeing increasing numbers of individuals and households signing up for the ShakeOut drill and many more questions coming forward.  To help you educate your constituents, a reminder that we have new resources

New YouTube videos include a recording of our largest ever Ask the Experts webinar this year.  You can view and share the link:   https://www.youtube.com/@bcearthquakealliance

This year, we are asking all our colleagues to reinforce Drop! Cover! Hold! if you can, and safest known adaptations for people with extra needs and when there is not a sturdy piece of furniture to crawl under.  We have seen some concerning messaging emerging.  The attached post card will help with appropriate information.  Please also carefully review and share the full instructions available from our ShakeOut BC website:  https://www.shakeoutbc.ca/how-to-run-a-drill/drop-cover-and-hold-on/#:~:text=Move%20no%20more%20than%20a,it%20until%20the%20shaking%20stops.

Prepare to shelter in place for 14 days following a major earthquake – Please help increase understanding of the importance of preparing for the weeks following an earthquake.  Visit our Quake Tales stories to learn more about experiences of people in BC following a major earthquake. These stories underscore implications for communications, supply chain issues and other disruptions following major earthquakes: https://bcearthquakealliance.ca/bcea-quake-tales/

From the BCEA Board of Directors

We were pleased to be represented by Board Chair, Naomi Yamamoto at the World Tsunami Awareness Day at the United Nations in New York.  Naomi generously traveled at her own expense for the 10th anniversary commemoration.  

The Nominating Committee was very excited by the strong show of support. We received over 20 qualified applicants for the vacancies.  For those of you who were interested in supporting governance, the nominating committee is currently preparing for the AGM in March.  We will be looking for a Treasurer, and for people who have specific experience in not for profit and charities finances as we explore our next steps as outlined in the strategic plan.  Watch for details of new awards to follow.

Please save the date – Our next virtual Community of Practice is coming  up on February  24th at 1:00p.m.  

We know that this has been a busy season for those of you who are involved in response and we are grateful for all you do!   

Stay safe,          

Christine