Vancouver council votes to create earthquake risk strategy [Video]

A report presented to city councillors Tuesday details how destructive a mega earthquake could be for Vancouver.

The report was led by Micah Hilt, a seismic policy planner hired by the City of Vancouver.

The findings are stark. Up to $17 billion worth of destruction is predicted, more than 6,000 privately owned buildings could be damaged and more than 1,300 people could potentially be severely injured or killed.

Those numbers are a prediction for what would happen if a magnitude-7.2 earthquake were to strike the city. Scientists predict a megathrust earthquake will strike the city sometime in the next 50 years.

Hilt’s findings show six neighbourhoods make up 65 per cent of the overall risk in the city:

• West End
• Downtown Eastside
• Downtown
• Kitsilano
• Fairview
• Mount Pleasant

“In those areas, three-quarters of the people are renting. Many of them are low-income. Many of them are seniors. And that is a key focus as we work …