Canada

Disasters within Canada

More than 3,500 earthquakes are recorded annually in or near Canada, but most are small and too far removed from populated areas to cause concern. Severe earthquakes do rock the nation on occasion. In 1663, an earthquake caused major landslides along the St. Lawrence River and caused damage as far away as Boston.

Another earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island in 1700, producing a tsunami that eradicated an aboriginal village and caused destruction along the coast of Japan. In the 20th century, a series of quakes ranging from 5.8 to 7.3 in magnitude caused significant damage. Damages in the Saguenay, Quebec, quake in 1988 exceeded $25 million.

A more common disaster confronting Canadian citizens is flooding. Records show 260 known floods since 1900, resulting in the loss of 235 lives and $8.7 billion in damages. The historic Red River flood of 1950 required the evacuation of more than 100,000 people and caused more than $1 billion in damages. Its impact led to the construction of the Red River Floodway, Canada's most successful flood-control structure. The floodway prevented a repeat disaster in 1997, when the Red River experienced its largest flood since 1852.

The most expensive natural disaster in Canada's history was the ice storm of 1998. During six days in early January, freezing rain fell for 80 hours from Ontario through Quebec to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, covering cities and rural areas with three to four inches of ice. The death toll reached 28, and nearly 1,000 others were injured. Well over 500,000 people were forced [Page 44]to leave their homes. Over 4 million lost power as 130 power transmission towers and more than 30,000 utility poles were destroyed; 700,000 were still without power more than three weeks later. Personnel from six Canadian provinces and eight American states worked to restore power, and the largest peacetime deployment of Canadian military forces, nearly 16,000, helped clear debris, provide medical assistance, evacuate residents, and assist power company personnel. Power loss and treacherous roads also closed businesses, and farmers lost crops, livestock, and barns. Experts predicted a recovery period of four decades for the maple syrup industry. Overall, the storm cost nearly $5.5 billion.

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