ICLR releases earthquake report: Reducing the risk of earthquake damage in
Canada: Lessons from Haiti and Chile

TORONTO, Dec. 1 /CNW/ - The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) today released a study entitled Reducing the risk of earthquake damage in Canada: Lessons from Haiti and Chile. Written by ICLR Executive Director Paul Kovacs and sponsored by Lloyd's, the paper identifies lessons for reducing the risk of earthquake damage in Canada based upon the recent tragic events in Haiti and Chile.

"Someday a large earthquake will strike Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa or some other large urban centre in Canada. Such an event has the potential to cause loss of life, property damage and economic disruption unprecedented for Canada," says Kovacs. "The tragic and contrasting experiences earlier this year in Haiti and Chile show that appropriate investments in preparedness and resilience can help prevent future earthquakes from becoming disasters."

This report identifies seven lessons for Canada, and in doing so, examines the country's state of preparedness and resilience to extreme earthquake events. There are many areas of strength in Canada's preparedness and resilience, yet there are also several areas where improvement is needed. Of particular concern is the vulnerability of public infrastructure, some concerns about the preparedness of the federal government, and the need to retrofit older homes and buildings.

In addition, there is scope to improve the dialogue between stakeholders, including public officials, business leaders and the research community. The report also highlights the important role that insurance will play to support the recovery following an earthquake and the essential contribution of research to provide a science-based foundation for action.

ICLR hopes the report will foster increased awareness about the potential impact of a major earthquake in Canada, and lead to opportunities to prevent or mitigate the risk of loss. The paper also seeks to strengthen the willingness to invest further in resilient buildings, infrastructure and preparedness. The best time to act is now, before a large earthquake strikes.

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Established in 1998 by Canada's property and casualty insurers, ICLR is an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Toronto and at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. ICLR is a centre of excellence for disaster loss prevention research and education. ICLR's research staff is internationally recognized for pioneering work in a number of fields including wind and seismic engineering, atmospheric sciences, water resources engineering and economics. Multi-disciplined research is a foundation for ICLR's work to build communities more resilient to disasters.

For further information:

Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director, ICLR, tel. [phone], ext. 3216, cell 416/277-5827, fax [phone], [email protected]