The “cottage,” an earthquake simulator with an interior that resembles a living room albeit one with bolted-down furniture, brings home the effects of a significant earthquake.
According to emergency coordinator for the district of Squamish, where the cottage is due to visit this Spring, Alexis Kraig, the simulation is designed to approximate the effects of a major tremor to alert visitors to the need to prepare.
While research indicates that Canada is likely to be hit by a quake of magnitude 8.0 or greater sometime in the next half century, earthquake insurance is unlikely to be on the mind of homeowners.
The BC coast, where Squamish is located, is no stranger to earthquakes, with a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hitting off the west coast of Vancouver Island as recently as mid-March.
BC itself, the most likely site of an earthquake, only sees rates of 40% to 50% of uptake for earthquake insurance among homeowners.
Although one broker from Hyde Park Insurance Agencies in Vancouver puts the rate of uptake even lower: “Not everyone is taking earthquake insurance, not even 25% to 30%. People think it’s too expensive and [an earthquake] is not going to happen… Not enough people are taking earthquake insurance.”
The rate in the east is even lower, with uptake of less than 2 in every hundred in Montreal and Ottawa.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada and a grant from FortisBC are funding the cottage, which costs $10,000 per day.
