Hi everyone,
We hope you are staying well! Following are a few updates and highlights of our recent education activities and connections. We have had a busy fall with a range of outreach activities, workshops and emergency preparedness fairs with a few more ahead this month. We were excited to attend the BRC conference in Penticton and where we co-presented a workshop with the BC Economic Development Association. We appreciated everyone who stopped by the booth to learn more and to share stories of earthquake and tsunami preparedness in your communities and regions. Thank you to all of our event hosts for ensuring that earthquake and tsunami preparedness is visible. A reminder that if we have not visited your Regional Emergency Preparedness Table, we welcome an opportunity to connect and explore opportunities to collaborate.

Next Virtual Community of Practice – February 25, 1:00p.m.

A reminder that our next free Virtual Community of Practice for Community Groups and Organizations is February 25th. By request, the registration link now provides the option to sign up for the series: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkf-GorT8pHNYUswkmdQSNeZ6TZ0EgfPi8.


ShakeOut Week in BC Update

Almost 804,000 people in BC have officially practised their Drop Cover and Hold On Drill this year to date. We are grateful to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority for hosting us at their beautiful venue for our ShakeOut media event this year with a public education fair and the Quake Cottage, and to Mayor Ken Sim for providing an official greeting along with our presenting sponsor IBC and other VIPs. If you or any of the people in your circle missed their earthquake drill in October, there is still time. Sign up on our site remains open until December 31st at www.shakeoutbc.ca. While the Committee was disappointed to lose a friendly per-capita sign up challenge against neighbouring Washington State, we look forward to trying again next year. We are very grateful to our ShakeOut Planning Committee Task Team Leads, and volunteers who generously dedicate their time throughout the year and prepare events like the Ask the Experts webinars. Special thanks to Planning Committee Chair, Jeri Grant for her tireless efforts. On ShakeOut Day, we were also privileged to visit with the older adults and staff at Villa Cathay Care Home to learn more about their drill. A huge thank you to everyone who organized events, amplified messaging to ensure increased earthquake and emergency preparedness practise this year. Messages from householders increased significantly this year, with the most common inquiries being concern about the absence of an alert on ShakeOut Day for the drill in jurisdictions where no local alert was issued in 2024.

Thank you to our sponsors, partners and funders!

A huge thank you to our dedicated sponsors. The Great BC ShakeOut earthquake drill is made possible through the generous support of our presenting sponsor, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, our silver sponsor Fortis BC, our bronze sponsors Health Emergency Management BC and BC Hydro and our vendor sponsor SOS Emergency Response Technologies. A special shout out to our English language television partner Global BC for their features and reminders this fall and especially during ShakeOut Week.

We remain grateful to our financial partners BCAA and Canadian Red Cross for their support throughout the year with our expanded range of services and reach.
Help Needed
We are looking for volunteers, and members to support our reach throughout the province. Our nominating committee is also preparing the slate of nominees to fill roles on our board. Please contact cbuttkus@bcearthquakealliance.ca for more information. We have a variety of meaningful roles for volunteers who can help us grow educational capacity throughout the province and are also looking for individuals who are able to help with our outreach to the Chinese and Mandarin speaking communities in February.


If you missed it, our annual Strategic Plan for 2025-2028 is available online with reflections from board chair Naomi Yamamoto: https://bcearthquakealliance.ca/strategic-planning-though-usually-boring-is-a-must/. As we approach year end and Giving Tuesday, we wish to thank everyone who supported us financially this year. In addition to contributions to ongoing sponsors, funders and financial partners, we received honoraria for workshops. These financial contributions combined with the generous support of in-kind partners and countless hours from our dedicated and skilled volunteers, interns and donated personnel, allows us to expand our work. Over time, we have seen increasing requests for referrals to trusted service providers and this presents a unique opportunity for vendor sponsors. To learn more about the opportunity to support us with our strategic priorities in 2025, please reach out to cbuttkus@bcearthquakealliance.ca.

Save the Date – Tsunami Preparedness Week is April 13-19, 2025. Coordinating meetings are already underway. With help from IBC and Canadian Red Cross last year, our collaboration with communities and regions expanded last year and we hope to see increasing engagement in 2025. If you are interested in a High Ground Hike, please reach out to PreparedBC@gov.bc.ca. For other speaker and outreach requests, please reach out to us at office@bcearthquakealliance.ca. We have a curated list of tsunami preparedness resources available from our website: https://bcearthquakealliance.ca/tsunami-preparedness-and-research/
Thank you for your continued support and for all you do! Please watch our channels for more news to follow.

Stay Safe,

Christine