Research Reports

An Assessment of the B.C. Tsunami Warning System and
Related Risk Reduction Practices

Tsunamis and Coastal Communities in British Columbia

Authors
Peter S. Anderson
Gordon A. Gow
Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology
School of Communication
Simon Fraser University
515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3

Complete report in PDF

Executive Summary
Tsunamis are large wave events generated by large surface impacts or sudden movements of the ocean floor that displace a large volume of water. The displaced water propagating outward from the source becomes a tsunami. Although usually associated with earthquakes, tsunamis can also be triggered by many other types of phenomena, including submarine or terrestrial landslides, submarine and terrestrial volcanic eruptions, explosions and even bolide (e.g. asteroid, meteor,comet) impacts.

Tsunamis have been responsible for enormous damage and loss of life in many coastal regions around the world. However, tsunamis are particularly threatening around the continental edges of the Pacific Ocean due to a greater frequency of large destructive earthquakes. The west coast of Canada is particularly vulnerable to earthquake-induced tsunamis due to the presence of both nearby and distant subduction source zones at the margin of the Pacific basin.

The threat of tsunami along the west coast of Canada has prompted the federal government and the Province of British Columbia to participate with other members of the international community in the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWS). The B.C. Tsunami Warning System is, in effect, a regional component of the PTWS that consists of three functional subsystems for detection, emergency management, and public response. Together these critical links establish a three-stage detection and dissemination network to alert local populations along the B.C. coast to the threat of a potential or imminent tsunami.

British Columbia has an enormous coastal area that possesses an extremely diverse and productive environment in terms of the types of activities that can be accommodated in a temperate marine environment. Despite its rich environmental diversity, it is also a region plagued by systemic economic and environmental pressures, including high unemployment, dependence on declining primary resource industries, demands for increased environmental protection, conflicts associated with an increasing range of uses, and a declining public service sector.

Recently several new initiatives have been launched by federal, provincial, regional and local authorities, First Nations, conservation and private sector organizations to refine and direct economic growth in coastal regions. The most significant new areas of economic activity to emerge are aquaculture, recreation and tourism, and off-shore oil and gas exploration.

Under these dynamic economic conditions and compounded by ecological concerns, the composition of stakeholder groups involved with the B.C. Tsunami Warning System is rather large and evolving. In some cases, emerging sectors may have little regular contact with B.C. Provincial Emergency Program officials and may not fully appreciate the tsunami risk to their activities and investments. Communications links and capabilities also vary widely between and within these sectors.

These evolving fronts provide a backdrop for this study, which is intended to provide a baseline assessment of the B.C. tsunami warning system and related risk reduction practices in light of socio-economic developments along B.C. coast, and evaluated according to recognized best practices and key principals and aims of Canada’s National Disaster Mitigation Strategy.

While tsunamis cannot be prevented, levels of risk can be reduced and sometimes even eliminated. However, to be effective a tsunami mitigation strategy needs long-term support within coastal communities that are capable of implementing and maintaining local and regional tsunami preparedness programs, provided with essential planning tools, and willing to raise the awareness and commitment of individuals, businesses, emergency responders and government decision makers.

This study has attempted to show that an integrated tsunami warning system involves a wide range of considerations across all three stages of the dissemination network. Within this context, we offer a series of conclusions that could be used to strengthen key components of Canada’s west coast tsunami warning system and related risk reduction practices.

Key finding: monitoring and detection
Canada’s involvement in the Pacific Tsunami Warning System provides effective monitoring and alerting capability for telegenic tsunamis affecting the B.C. coast. Effective alerting for locally-generated tsunamis remains problematic.

Conclusions
There exists the need to:

• Maintain and strengthen where possible Canada’s international commitments to the Pacific Tsunami Warning System;
• Consider the deployment of new communications technology where it provides identifiable enhancements to the current stage one activities; and
• Begin developing a warning and alerting strategy for local tsunamis throughout the B.C. coastal region.

Key finding: emergency management
Current inundation mapping and related mitigation efforts are focused primarily on selected communities on Vancouver Island.

Conclusions
Inundation mapping activities need to be:

• Expanded to include all populated and important economic coastal areas at risk in B.C.;
• Institutionalized under existing federal and provincial mitigation strategies to ensure longer-term sustainability.

Key findings: public response
Local warning capabilities are extremely limited in B.C. coastal regions. The capacity forbroadcasting local warnings is extremely limited in many rural coastal areas and telephone-based notification schemes may also be problematic in small communities.

Conclusions

• A communications infrastructure audit needs to be undertaken to identify local capabilities and specific gaps in coverage. The audit would have to involve federal government departments, provincial agencies, the academic community, and the private sector.
• Regular reporting on exercises and meetings for the B.C. Tsunami Warning System needs to be established.
• The Pacific Regional Emergency Telecommunications Committee needs to become more actively involved in the further development and implementation of the B.C. Tsunami Warning System.
• A Universally Digitally Coded Warning system for public warning in B.C., with specific implementation for tsunami warning, is needed.
• A set of targets and corresponding incentives to ensure minimum warning capabilities for all communities along the B.C. coast is required.
  Planning and response for tsunamis in transient and remote communities is evident in only a few cases where these have been developed on a voluntary, uncoordinated basis.

Conclusions
At the provincial level, officials need to work together with:

• Relevant ministries to develop a trailhead information campaign as part of a risk communication program for vulnerable recreational areas along the B.C. coast.
• Local authorities to encourage greater cross-membership in research, educational and training programs to support the formation of tsunami working groups.
• Local communities to develop a mechanism for continued assessment of coastal community needs and evaluation of the success of existing programs as part of broader national and provincial mitigation strategies. This is particularly important as the socioeconomic profiles of coastal areas continue to change. In many coastal regions, there is
  an opportunity to build on broadly based processes already in place such as Rural Team British Columbia and the Coastal Community Network.

In the absence of an effective warning system for near-source tsunamis, a special awareness and education program about tsunami risk and appropriate response should be implemented. This would need to be communicated to residents, workers (seasonal and year-round), regional visitors (especially tourists), and transient populations, many of whom may have a different
exposure to the tsunami hazard.

A successful mitigation strategy requires continuing commitment from local governments and other local authorities, as well as by individuals, industry and the recreational and tourism sectors in tsunami-prone areas.

Conclusions

• There exists the need to develop a standard provincial tsunami program assessment template, which could be based on the 1976 Foster and 2004 Anderson tsunami program reviews. This template should be administered regularly – every five or 10 years – to assess local, regional and provincial community readiness and to measure the utility of
  active tsunami program initiatives.
• B.C. PEP’s Risk and Vulnerability Analysis (HRVA) Tool Kit is available to help a community make risk-based choices to address vulnerabilities, mitigate hazards and prepare for response to and recovery from hazard events. A specialized version of it to assist local planners in their preparation of tsunami mitigation strategies and response plans would be beneficial.
• Local authorities need to work together to develop a common public educational outreach program to ensure that local residents understand the procedures associated with tsunami watch and warning bulletins.
• Continued support from federal and provincial agencies and expanded access to tsunami information through existing websites is required.
• Current legislation needs to be reviewed to ensure minimum requirements for tsunami risk reduction practices are established and followed.

An essential element of tsunami mitigation is public awareness of the tsunami hazard and what actions are to be safely undertaken when a tsunami is expected. Scientific support may also be required when applying models and when interpreting inundation maps.

Conclusions

• The transfer of knowledge from the scientific community to local and regional tsunami risk management and mitigation efforts is important, but needs support from federal or provincial governments.
• A Canadian tsunami information clearinghouse to enable ‘one-stop’ access to tsunami information and planning resources would be helpful.
• Creation and maintenance of targeted tsunami educational programs in place for industry sectors such as tourism, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry is required.
• Specific training modules for tsunami hazards need to be jointly developed. Much benefit can be gained from current mitigation efforts underway in neighbouring U.S. states that face similar challenges to British Columbia.

Conclusions

• To enhance information exchange and introduce stakeholders to each other, especiallylocal planners, a regional mitigation conference and regular workshops should be planned. Possible venues include the annual Vancouver Emergency Preparedness Conference; Emergency Preparedness for Industry and Commerce Council annual forum (especially for industry planning); Union of B.C. Municipalities special events, and so on.
• Supporting the use and sponsorship of existing forums to reduce the effects of earthquake events would be helpful. Examples include the Western States Seismic Policy Council (WSSPC), a regional earthquake consortium; and the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW), a coalition of private and public representatives working together
  to improve the ability of Cascadia Region communities to reduce the effects of earthquake events.

While there is an ongoing need to support scientific research into tsunami hazard mapping for the B.C. coast, the study concludes by identifying three further areas for research based on what appear to be significant gaps in knowledge.

1. Communications Infrastructure
   An infrastructure audit should be undertaken to determine the communications capabilities of local populations along the B.C. coast. Findings from a study of this kind would provide important details for community planning and could make a valuable contribution to Industry
   Canada’s Public Alerting initiative and to the future design of the B.C. Tsunami Warning System.
   
2. Coastal Preparedness
   Little is known about tsunami awareness within and the preparedness practices of coastal populations, particularly transient and marginal groups. A detailed assessment could provide an empirical basis for setting future targets, identifying priorities, and establishing quantitative measures for the effectiveness of mitigation and preparedness strategies.
   
3. Duty to Warn
   It may be prudent to undertake a formal review into federal and provincial legal obligations with respect to their ‘duty to warn’ residents and visitors of known tsunami hazards, as well as the minimum conditions that governments might be reasonably expected to establish when developing and maintaining a public alerting system.
   

This material is based upon work supported by the Division of Research and Development (DRD) in the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP), under Contract Reference No. 2002D001. OCIPEP is now a part of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA (2003)
Catalogue No.: D82-88/2003E-PDF
ISBN: 0-662-35684-5