Oz is definitely a dead duck, so we have decided to put our all in to making ourselves a new life in Vancouver! Adelaide's loss is Vancouvers gain!

well good luck with everything!!!

How so?

Its a long, long story. Basically our agents led us to believe that we could do something we couldnt and we were about 2 weeks too late (husband's age was a factor, you see)

L

Best wishes to you, you'll love living on the west coast. We live in Victoria, and would never move away. Great place to raise a family.

Dumb question...but being on the Pacific Rim, do you get earth quakes or is more further south?

Not a dumb question; the west coast of Canada doesn't get significant earthquakes all that often. However, it is along the "ring of fire" and the experts are very worried that one day a really big quake will strike the Vancouver/Seattle/Victoria area. I know in Vancouver, they have a long-term project to re-enforce the bridges, etc.

Absolutely correct. We have however in the past year when there was a earthquake in the west coast in the States felt a tremendous tremor even in Victoria. Since then we do have some aftershock but not in Victoria proper.

There have been several small earthquakes out in the ocean, and the temors have been felt upisland.

Lucy,
check out this site
http://www.pgc.nrcan.gc.ca/seismo/recent/wc.50evt.html

Clare

Yes! There are a lot of earthquakes on the coast but probably 99% of them are too weak to be felt. I lived in Victoria for about 20 years and only felt four that were strong enough to make me know for sure that I was feeling an earthquake and not just the effects of a big truck rumbling by. And the strongest quake only did minor damage in the city... but boy did my house wobble! I could see the walls swaying back and forth a few inches. Quite a rush! It was great! Though I almost peed myself!

Have a look at this:
http://www.pgc.nrcan.gc.ca/seismo/recent/swbc.1yr.html

Gulp! :scared:

Ah! You beat me to it!

By the way Lucy, welcome to the Canada forum.

One thing to note here; earthquakes don't kill people, collapsing buildings kill people. Vancouver's skyscrapers are designed to withstand earthquakes, and single-family homes in Canada are made from wood frame. This type of structure (wood frame) is extremely resistant to collapse from an earthquake, since such a structure is flexible and can essentially "rock and roll". I would be more worried about gas-line breaks, rather than my home collapsing during an earthquake. Homes built on fill, or other sites subject to liquifaction are more of a problem.

I was raised in Ontario - lived in Canada full-time until I was 40 yrs old. I didn't feel my first earthquake until I was in my early 30s, and that was in Edmonton. No one else in the office felt it because it was weak. Later that evening on the news, they reported a 4.x earthquake hit Edmonton - no damage reported.

Hi Welcome to the Canada Forum
Just curious, but why do you want to leave Oz and what makes you think you will like Canada? As I said I am just curious and interested.