46 Earth Quake

When earthquakes are mentioned we usually think of southern California and the kayos that they experience there from time to time.  For those of us however who live in the southwest corner of BC and the northwestern US the threat of quakes is just as real.

Anyone who lived in BC during the June 23, ’46 quake will probably still remember the excitement that the 7.1 magnitude earthquake caused.  This was the largest onshore earthquake in Canada’s history and it took place just above Courtenay in the mountains near Forbidden Plateau.   The quake was felt as far north as Prince Rupert and as far south as Portland Oregon.  Because it was in a remote area away from most man made structures and most buildings near at hand were wooden, very little damage was done and only two people were killed, one in an overturned boat and one by a heart attack.

I was just a kid of eight when the earthquake struck and our family was away visiting relatives in the US.  I remember very well my Grandma’s account of how her front lawn at White Rock rippled like the waves on a lake.

It was not until we got home to Read Island however that some of the more dramatic damage became evident.  Most if not all of the trees on Rebecca Spit by Hariot Bay eventually died, as the quake must have lowered the Spit and exposed their roots to the sea.  Our house remained intact as we had stovepipes for chimneys, but 75 per cent of the brick chimneys in the area were damaged.

It wasn’t until a few years later after my folks moved to Bird Cove that Ron Lambert and I on one of our exploring adventures explored the damage of the earthquake first hand. 

One of the properties that suffered the most from the earthquake was the Upton’s.  The chimney in their house had fallen down but across the road from the Upton’s house, sat their barn all bent and twisted with one corner wrenched off its foundation.   What was once a grassy field between the barn and the road was now a small lake as the grassy field had dropped at least three meters below the level of the road and was now blocking the small stream that ran through it.

It was fascinating for Ron and I to wander in the wooded area back of the barn and see whole areas the size of a large house with the trees all leaning at a forty-five degree angle into the air as the ground they were growing on had been up-thrusted by the earthquake.

Ron and I were quite fascinated with the damage done by the earthquake and explored the surrounding area a number of time over the next several years.