Military test response plan for major earthquake

RAdm Couturier, Glenn Cooper, a member of Real Property Operations, and Capt(N) David Mazur, Chief of Staff of Plans and Operations, observe members of the Urban Search and Rescue perform first aid on a mock casualty in Bamfield, B.C. during Exercise Staunch Maple. Photo by LS Ogle Henry, MARPAC Imaging Services

Rachel Lallouz, Staff Writer ~

The very real threat of a major earthquake and tsunami looms in Vancouver Island’s future, and being ready to respond once the shaking stops is essential.

Last week, the province and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) joined together to test every aspect of their emergency response plans.

For Joint Task Force Pacific (JTF(P)) that exercise was Staunch Maple, which verified the military’s operational readiness to support the Province of British Columbia in the event of a disaster.

Should they be called upon to assist, the military has the ability to provide humanitarian assistance in conjunction with partner agencies such as Emergency Management British Columbia and Public Safety Canada. These needs may range from housing displaced people in barracks, or sending urban search and rescue teams to dig citizens out of rubble.  

“When the province is hit with an earthquake event, it will very quickly need federal assistance for public safety from all regions in Canada, and in real life it will be a national event,” says Lieutenant-Commander Steve Shute, Exercise Co-ordinator. “This exercise is significant because it puts the province in a good position to demonstrate to the general public that we are in a high risk area, and that we are serious about exercising a contingency plan.”

The three-day exercise was part of the larger Exercise Coastal Response, the province’s first full-scale earthquake and tsunami response exercise. It brought together stakeholders from all levels of government, as well as Emergency Management B.C. staff, First Nations, Crown corporations, critical infrastructure owners, and non-government organizations involved in provincial-level response to model how they would collaboratively work to respond to the impacts of a catastrophic event along coastal British Columbia.

It tested the procedures set out in the B.C. Earthquake Immediate Response Plan and promoted interagency co-operation among internal and external agencies that support emergency response.

For the JTF(P), Staunch Maple held two components: a Command Post Exercise in which military units practised standing up their command and control centres; and the Field Training Exercise that began with a simulated 9.0 earthquake on the morning of June 7.

It was delivered via a warning broadcasted over the base Mass Notification System. Following the warning, Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) headquarters simulated an evacuation of D100. Post evacuation, Rear-Admiral Gilles Couturier addressed MARPAC staff at the muster point a short distance away to provide orders for upcoming crisis planning cycles.

HMCS Whitehorse and a Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific) team were sent to Bamfield and Ucluelet to serve as communication points in what could be potentially devastated areas during a real quake.

“To plan this exercise, we have had subject matter experts give us insight as to what may occur during the earthquake and tsunami, and relate to us lessons learned in past emergency situations,” says LCdr Shute.

The high level of operational readiness practiced by the military and governmental organizations is necessary due to the impending major earthquake threat existing along the Cascadia sub front roughly 150 kilometres off of the B.C., Washington, and Oregon coasts. If the earthquake were to occur at a 9.0 Richter-scale level, tsunami waves would be generated immediately, reaching nearby coastal shores within 45 minutes of the fault rupturing.

“People need to be vigilant and prepared if this occurs because of the sheer magnitude of the event,” says LCdr Shute.

Exercise Staunch Maple was linked to Exercise Cascadia Rising and Ardent Sentry; the American simulated emergency responses to catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that occurs June 11 to 16 along the American West Coast.