The Quake Cottage simulator finished its Vancouver Island/Sunshine Coast tour in Sechelt on Tuesday, June 7. More than 400 people lined up to experience a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.
“It was wild, like something you can’t control,” Rochelle Baptiste said after getting out.
“You’re unable to control your movements and everything and grabbing onto those handles – that was a good thing – but I don’t think that would happen in a real earthquake situation,” Patricia Van Der Veen said. “It was definitely eye-opening.”
The simulator is a small mobile trailer outfitted to resemble a typical workspace. It demonstrates the need to proactively assess and secure various items in our homes, schools, and workplaces. Inside the Quake Cottage, a simulated major earthquake illustrates the importance of securing cabinets, furniture, flat screen TVs, refrigerators, cabinet doors and a lot more.
Bill Elsner, emergency program coordinator for the Sunshine Coast Regional District, said it’s important that people get a sense of what a serious earthquake would feel like.
“We’ve never had a large-magnitude earthquake here, so the public is unfamiliar with how that would actually feel,” Elsner said. “The [Quake Cottage] simulated a magnitude 8.0 earthquake and demonstrated to people that – by experiencing the movement – they wouldn’t be able to walk around.
“They would have to get down to the ground and get to a safe place no matter where they were because they wouldn’t be able to exit a building or even walk into a another room,” Elsner said.
Powell River - Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons also found the simulator “eye-opening.”
“This was a very jolting experience,” Simons said. “Things will fly off the wall, at a rate I wouldn’t have expected. It’s a good tool, a lot of people are interested. We all have to be aware and ready. I have to get readier.”
Elsner called the event a “great effort,” with about 24 volunteers from the Sechelt Fire Department, Search and Rescue and Emergency Social Services.
“They were all instrumental in making the event happen,” Elsner said.
The event was organized by the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Mid-Island emergency coordinators.
Find out more at www.quakecottage.com
