Impacts of the October 2012 Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake near Haida Gwaii, Canada

Research Article| March 03, 2015 Impacts of the October 2012 Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake near Haida Gwaii, Canada Alison L. Bird; Alison L. Bird aPacific Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 9860 W. Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada V8L 4B2Alison.Bird@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Maurice Lamontagne Maurice Lamontagne bNatural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), 615 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E9 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Alison L. Bird aPacific Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 9860 W. Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada V8L 4B2Alison.Bird@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca Maurice Lamontagne bNatural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), 615 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E9 Publisher: Seismological Society of America First Online: 14 Jul 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-3573 Print ISSN: 0037-1106 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2015) 105 (2B): 1178–1192. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120140167 Article history First Online: 14 Jul 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Alison L. Bird, Maurice Lamontagne; Impacts of the October 2012 Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake near Haida Gwaii, Canada. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2015;; 105 (2B): 1178–1192. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120140167 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of the Seismological Society of America Search Advanced Search Abstract On 27 October 2012, a magnitude (Mw) 7.8 earthquake occurred in the sparsely populated region of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada (formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands). This was the second largest recorded earthquake in Canadian history. It was felt throughout British Columbia and as far away as the Yukon, Alberta, and Montana, roughly 1600 km from the epicenter. In some locations (notably on Haida Gwaii) the perceivable shaking lasted 1.5–2 min, with very strong shaking for about 30 s. Strong ground motions recorded at three locations in the region reached a maximum horizontal acceleration of 0.2g. Fortunately, this earthquake resulted in very limited damage partly because of the relatively large distance (more than 60 km) between population centers and the fault rupture and partly because of seismic resistance of the generally low, wood‐frame construction found on the islands. We examine the various physical effects from the shaking (e.g., tsunami, landslides, building damage, loss of hot springs), cataloged by field crews and reported by the inhabitants of Haida Gwaii and the surrounding regions. These will serve as a guide toward the potential impact from future large earthquakes on the various Haida Gwaii communities.Through a Community Decimal Intensity evaluation of people's accounts, it was revealed that, although intensities were close to expected near the source zone, regional intensities were lower than predicted by the conventional western North America theoretical relation.Finally, the October 2012 earthquake may be used as a scenario event for moderate subduction earthquakes in other, more populated areas of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.Online Material: Abridged "Did you feel it?" reports. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.