7.8 Magnitude Earthquake in Turkey: is Canada safe from Disasters
Early on Monday, a strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook large portions of Turkey and Syria, causing hundreds of structures to collapse and killing more than 1,900 people. As rescue crews combed through mountains of debris in towns and cities all around the region, it was still thought that hundreds of people were still buried beneath the rubble.
Residents on both sides of the border hurried outside on a chilly, rainy, and snowy night after being startled out of their sleep by the early morning earthquake. Buildings were demolished to heaps of pancaked floors, and the area was shaken by significant aftershocks or additional earthquakes, including one that was almost as powerful as the original.
Through piles of metal and concrete, rescuers and locals in many cities looked for survivors. Patients, including babies, were evacuated from facilities in Syria after a hospital in Turkey collapsed. Cairo was also affected by the earthquake, which was centred in the province of Kahramanmaras in southeast Turkey. It roused people from their mattresses in Beirut and drove residents of Damascus running onto the street.
A similar big earthquake that struck northwest Turkey in 1999 killed almost 18,000 people.
A 7.5 magnitude one struck hours later more than 100 kilometres away. Although its consequences were not immediately obvious, a disaster management agency official in Turkey stated it was a new earthquake and not an aftershock.
Orhan Tatar informed reporters that hundreds of aftershocks were anticipated in the wake of the two earthquakes.
In a large area that stretched from the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Hama to Diyarbakir, Turkey, more than 330 kilometres (200 miles) to the northeast, thousands of structures were believed to have collapsed. Iskenderun, a city on the Mediterranean coast, experienced a hospital collapse, but there were no initial reports of injuries, according to Turkey’s vice president Fuat Oktay.
A grim reminder of how powerful and devastating natural disasters might be! Certainly our thoughts and prayers go to Turkey today as many people still look there for their loved ones.
How safe is Canada from Earthquakes?
On Monday (06.Feb.2023), a 3.8-magnitude earthquake with origins close to Buffalo, New York, was “lightly felt” by residents of southern Ontario.
Around 6:15 a.m., an earthquake was detected near West Seneca, New York, which is southeast of Buffalo.
Earthquakes Canada first gave it a magnitude of 4.2, while American government agencies later gave it a magnitude of 3.8.There are “no reports of damage, and none would be expected,” according to Earthquakes Canada.
Users named locations in southern Ontario on Twitter, including the Niagara, St. Catharines, and Hamilton areas, where they claimed to have felt the earthquake’s vibrations and shaking.
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But how about big Earthquakes? Can the Turkey scenario hit Canada?
Sadly, yes! On August 22, 1949, off the coast of British Columbia, the greatest earthquake to strike Canada (magnitude 8.1) since 1700 took place. It happened on the Queen Charlotte Fault, which runs beneath the west coast of the Haida Gwaii (previously Queen Charlotte Islands) off the west coast of British Columbia. The Queen Charlotte Fault is Canada’s counterpart of the San Andreas Fault. On Haida Gwaii, the shaking was so intense that cows were pushed off their feet and a Geological Survey of Canada employee who was working on the northern end of Graham Island was unable to stand. At Cumshewa Inlet, chimneys fell and an oil tank collapsed.
Canadian Government Agency Earthquake Canada has developed maps and strategies on where Earthquakes are expected in Canada and how to prepare for the case one bigger earthquake. We can still consider ourselves lucky in Canada, very seldom Canadians experience Earthquakes, big ones not to mention. can it happen yes, but when we compare other parts of the world like Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Japan and even East Coast of US, Canadians can breath easy when it comes to destruction grade Earthquakes.
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