Ocean Networks Canada’s preliminary tsunami models for Barkley Sound and the City of Port Alberni were integrated into Emergency Management BC’s first ever full-scale earthquake and tsunami response exercise: Exercise Coastal Response in Port Alberni June 7 - 10.

Ocean Networks Canada in collaboration with University of Rhode Island has been developing new tsunami wave models for the area of Barkley Sound and the City of Port Alberni. New fault rupture models have been developed by Natural Resources Canada and University of Victoria personnel. Digital elevation models that reflect the morphology of these two areas have been developed in collaboration with NOAA-NCEI, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, GeoBC and the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District. Together, the Digital elevation models and the rupture models allowed Ocean Networks Canada to generate tsunami models with the support from Emergency Management BC . Support from Compute Canada, Westgrid and researchers from University of Paris-Est and University of Alaska-Fairbanks has also been instrumental in this effort.

These preliminary models provide time of arrival, wave height and inundation maps that are crucial tools for tsunami preparedness. These models, together with ONC’s observatories sensors and the new warning system under development will detect and forecast tsunamis for coastal and First Nations communities in British Columbia. Read the Immediate Response Plan (PDF) in preparation for a real event.

Model Animations