Terrace city council has decided not to follow up on one suggestion by the local Catholic school and parish to back early-warning system for earthquakes in local schools.
Early warning systems use new technology devices called P-sensors which provide up to a minute warning before an earthquake so evacuation can be done more efficiently.
The Vancouver Catholic school board is working on a pilot program using the new technology developed at UBC. In Terrace both the Sacred Heart Catholic church and Veritas Catholic school are considering doing so as well.
A connection to a central network would cost Veritas approximately $60,000, allowing other schools to then connect at a cost of approximately $30,000 each.
Father Terry Brock, who has since moved to Prince Rupert, asked city council on June 23 to request support for a plan to connect all local schools. Early detection systems were said to have lowered the death toll following Japan’s most recent major earthquake in 2011.
However fire chief John Klie came back with research that disagrees with the research that Brock presented to council, and council voted Aug. 24 not to involve itself with an early warning system for earthquakes.
Klie said the emphasis should be placed on other ways to be prepared.
