I was well aware of the impending danger of a tsunami prior to arriving here in the Lower Mainland of BC. After the devastating tsunami of late 2004, the Discovery Channel reported on the state of the fault line running off the coast of BC down into the US and the possibility of it causing another tsunami.

Bojan pointed me to a new McLean’s article about the state of readiness here in Coastal BC. One of the most interesting parts illustrates the federal and provincial government’s failure to learn from the mistakes of other countries:

But Japan, like Canada, had no substantial laws requiring the upgrade of non-conforming buildings. That changed after the Kobe quake of 1995, when more than 80,000 buildings collapsed, 8,000 more were destroyed by fires, and 6,000 people died.

I guess it’s going to take a bloodbath before the fuckin’ laws are changed and buildings are forced up to code. I’m pretty glad I didn’t get that job last week, it was on the 26th floor of a building that may or may not crumble in an earthquake!