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 …