April Updates from BC Earthquake Alliance Society
Hello everyone,
As we start the second quarter of the year, we have a number of updates to share.
Deepening Earthquake Awareness and Preparedness in BC.
We have recently released two new Quake Tales in PDF. https://bcearthquakealliance.
The Quake Tale stories are great learning resources for household and organizational use to augment educational programming and curricula. The most recent stories demonstrate the impacts of the Christchurch Earthquakes and lessons learned between the first and second earthquake. We had an opportunity to share a sneak preview of the video clips with BCEA members at our recent AGM.
In addition to our regular educational programming, we have expanded key messages to meet the needs of people in BC. This includes dialogue about what the term ‘Shelter in Place’ means in terms of earthquakes. We have also been collaborating with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction to deepen understanding of preparedness steps that homeowners can take to make their homes more resilient. We have also been in discussions with BC Housing to discuss the importance of adequate numbers of assessors to be able to meet the need for post-earthquake building inspections in a timely manner. For more information about the Post Disaster Building Inspection Program, please visit https://www.bchousing.org/
April 12-18, 2026 is Tsunami Preparedness Week. We are excited to see strong participation in Tsunami Preparedness Week again this year. We will be in Tofino with educational activities on April 24 for their 10th anniversary of participating in High Ground Hikes. We will also be visiting Ucluelet on April 25th. The Quake Cottage Earthquake Simulator will be at both events. Thank you to IBC for sponsoring our Earthquake Preparedness Tour Stops this Spring. Your support helps to extend our reach and to bring the simulator with us.
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If you are interested in hosting a High Ground Hike later this year, a reminder to please contact PreparedBC. Preparedness happens all year round and if the timing did not work for your community, it is not too late: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/
gov/content/safety/emergency- management/education-programs- toolkits/high-ground-hike
National Volunteer Week (April 19-25) ‘Ignite Volunteerism’
We could not deliver the impact we do without the support of our volunteers. Volunteers help us with administration, communications, ShakeOut BC earthquake drill, educational programming, on the board, many of our members also provide expertise and much more. We also celebrate all the loaned volunteers from organizations including the Canadian Red Cross who help us extend reach during peak event periods. A special shout out to our Volunteer, Volunteer Coordinator who helps us manage our expanding volunteer program!
Emergency Preparedness Week in Canada – May 3-9 – ‘Be Prepared Know Your Risks’
We are pleased to be able to participate in a number of events this May, with thanks to our volunteers who help us reach further during peak periods. We are also excited to share that we will be at the Legislature for two events on May 5th and 6th. We will be situated with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction’s Exhibit (one of which is about earthquake preparedness). Please watch our event calendar for more details.
BC Gaming Grant Award – With support of our members, we received our first ever Gaming Grant this year. The funding is helping us with several education initiatives including our Quake Tales stories. The grant will also support some earthquake preparedness tour stops (including our first ever presence in Northern BC), and ShakeOut BC activities.
Collaboration with Emergency Management Personnel. As we move into the second year of our strategic plan, we are focusing on how we can better collaborate with emergency management personnel with regards to earthquake and tsunami preparedness education. Please let us know what you need from us. Your input will help us determine how best to prioritize our efforts. https://survey.alchemer-ca.
Outreach to K-12 educators – As one of our strategic priorities, we have been reaching out to listen to K-12 educators to learn more about their needs relating to earthquake and tsunami preparedness. We had a wonderful opportunity to provide education to over 120 students and staff at Xaxli’p First Nation Youth Centre and Cayoosh Elementary School in Lillooet early this year as part of our partnership with the Canadian Red Cross. It was a great opportunity to focus our youth and classroom workshop curricula. Please let us know what your classroom needs are with regards to earthquake and tsunami preparedness. We have a survey open here: https://survey.alchemer-ca.
A reminder that our next Ask the Expert School Aged Edition webinar is taking place on May 6th https://bcearthquakealliance.
This is a great opportunity for students to participate, learn and ask questions from two seismologists and other experts.
The Great BC ShakeOut Marks 15 years – Sign up for ShakeOut is now open for 2026. Please renew at www.shakeoutbc.ca to ensure that you are not missing any of the timely blasts containing easy to share earthquake and tsunami preparedness materials. Please spread the word. Watch for this year’s theme to be announced soon.
Canadian Risk & Hazards Network (CRHNet) Conference (May 12-14), Edmonton– If you are at the conference, please reach out and we can catch up in person. We will be there with a poster display and ‘lightning talk’.
Our Annual report for 2025 is now available online https://bcearthquakealliance.
Our next virtual Community of Practice is on May 26th bcearthquakealliance.ca/event/
Thank you for all you do to promote awareness and enable preparedness for earthquakes and tsunami across British Columbia. We continue to accept invitations to deliver workshops and educational programming as resources permit. Thank you to our sponsors and financial partners who support our work https://bcearthquakealliance.
From the Board
Thank you to everyone who supported us during our call for nominations. At our AGM on March 30th, we welcomed new directors https://bcearthquakealliance.
Stay safe,
Christine