Some residents in southwestern British Columbia are sounding the alarm after reports of sporadic and inconsistent alerts from the national early warning system during the 4.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday.
Complaints first surfaced on social media after the quake centred 24 kilometres north-northeast of Sechelt, B.C., on the Sunshine Coast struck Friday afternoon, with several residents saying they didn91裸聊视频檛 receive an alert from the Earthquake Early Warning system.
Among them was Campbell River, B.C., teacher and first aid attendant Nat Raedwulf Pogue, who was at her workplace at a local school when the quake struck and only received confirmation of the earthquake after a colleague actively searched for information online.
91裸聊视频淚t was enough where my desk was shaking, my walls were shaking,91裸聊视频� Raedwulf Pogue said of the severity of the shaking. 91裸聊视频淚 came into contact with maybe five or six colleagues immediately afterwards, and none of them had confirmation an earthquake had happened.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 know of anyone in my immediate vicinity who got an alert.91裸聊视频�
Other reports on social media platforms such as X and Facebook showed people receiving alerts 15 to 22 minutes after the shaking, while others reported receiving no warning at all where 91裸聊视频� in some cases 91裸聊视频� spouses in the same household did receive the alert.
Natural Resources Canada seismologist Alison Bird said Saturday that the alerts sent from the ministry91裸聊视频檚 Earthquake Early Warning system 91裸聊视频渁re being evaluated.91裸聊视频�
But she noted that the timing of when people would receive a warning depends on both their distance from the earthquake and how they receive the alerts.
Bird said the alerts on Friday were only issued in an area around the quake91裸聊视频檚 epicentre 91裸聊视频� located on the Sunshine Coast 91裸聊视频� where 91裸聊视频渟trong shaking91裸聊视频� was expected, but some people outside the zone may have also received those warnings.
91裸聊视频淪ome people outside the area for EEW alerting may have received the alert because their device was able to receive a signal from a cell tower that is within the EEW area,91裸聊视频� Bird said in a written response. 91裸聊视频淓veryone within the area of strong shaking 91裸聊视频� should have received the alert, however.91裸聊视频�
Bird also said there may be confusion over the federally sent alerts specific to earthquakes and the provincial system 91裸聊视频� which notifies residents of 91裸聊视频渟ignificant events91裸聊视频� that may also include wildfires and other disasters.
B.C. legislative assembly member Brennan Day said he was in Courtenay, B.C., on Vancouver Island on Friday, and he did not know there was an earthquake until he received a text from his father in nearby Dove Creek who felt the shaking but got no warning.
91裸聊视频淢y wife was at a client91裸聊视频檚 house 91裸聊视频� and we91裸聊视频檙e on the same (mobile service) plan 91裸聊视频� she got an alert about two or three seconds before the earthquake actually started, which is fantastic,91裸聊视频� Day said. 91裸聊视频淏ut I was 10 kilometres away didn91裸聊视频檛 get an alert.
91裸聊视频淎 lot of people I know in the (Comox) Valley 91裸聊视频� are now commenting it91裸聊视频檚 completely hit-or-miss, whether they got an alert or not. So I think there91裸聊视频檚 some a serious look that needs to be taken at the emergency alert system, because if it91裸聊视频檚 done geographically, everybody on certain cellphone towers should have gotten that alert, and that just didn91裸聊视频檛 happen.91裸聊视频�
Day, a B.C. Conservative member representing Courtenay-Comox in the provincial legislature, said the region was lucky the warning system 91裸聊视频済ot a trial run91裸聊视频� before a larger earthquake struck, but added the sporadic warnings were 91裸聊视频渁bsolutely a huge concern.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淎t the end of the day, if we have a massive earthquake, it91裸聊视频檚 going to be the matter of life and death whether we can respond 91裸聊视频� get under a table, get yourself to a safer position 91裸聊视频� in advance,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频�(The province) has an emergency preparedness plan, but it needs to work 91裸聊视频� seconds matter.91裸聊视频�
Friday91裸聊视频檚 earthquake has been followed by a number of aftershocks between 1.0 and 2.0 in strength, and there has been no report of damage from the quake that occurred at 1:26 p.m. local time at a depth of about one kilometre.
Raedwulf Pogue, a learning support teacher who works with students with disabilities, said it is especially critical for warning systems to function properly in cases similar to hers, since some have already expressed uneasiness after the shaking Friday.
91裸聊视频淚 did have a few students who were quite anxious about what happened and just needed confirmation 91裸聊视频� that yes, it happened, because they really weren91裸聊视频檛 sure 91裸聊视频� and also that they were OK,91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淲e have students with mobility disability, so we would actually need more time to get them into a safe location. And we have students with developmental disabilities where even if their mobility isn91裸聊视频檛 impacted by their disability, they would need more assurance and more heads-up about what91裸聊视频檚 happening.
91裸聊视频淭he more time we have to provide them with what they need to move to a safer spot would prevent, hopefully, injury and limit the danger.91裸聊视频�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2025.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
