[images from portalberni.ca]
Hi kids, a little excitement with my morning tea this morning. There is a tsunami advisory all along the west coast of Vancouver Island, as well as Haida G'waii, as a result of the terribly devastating earthquake that has hit Japan. My beloved Tofino lies right in the heart of its path, of course. And tsunamis on the coast always alarm us here in the valley, as in 1964 a tsunami funneled along the canal that unites us with the ocean, and it did considerable damage, as you can see in the above photos.
I live slightly higher up, so am likely okay, but down at the end of Beaver Creek, and all along the river, lies the floodplain area which is the area of concern if we have another large tsunami.
I recall my ex telling me he had a "candy apple wine" Volkswagon back then, and he lost it in the parking lot of the A&W when the waves hit.
Schools are closed today and everyone is holding their breath. But the earthquake centre is reporting now that waves have hit some of the areas along the coast and are more moderate than at first feared. This is a relief.
These events happen about once a year now, in my town, and much more frequently world- wide, indicating a severely distressed planet. One day, the big one will hit our coast, and it will be terrible.
I am horrified by the footage on the news of what people in Japan are going through. It was only a couple of weeks ago that New Zealand was in distress. Now events seem to be happening, faster than the planet can move to clean up after them before the next event. Very scary, kids.
This area seems to have weathered this latest scare. We are fortunate. This time.
