earthquake

This is a photo of the side of the Shrum Science Centre Chemistry building.
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How prepared is SFU for the “Big One?”

Peak Web July 24, 2025

The “Big One,” an earthquake “as powerful as magnitude 9.0” on the Richter scale, has been predicted to occur on the Pacific Coast and impact Metro Vancouver in the next 50–100 years. The Peak looked into what this means for SFU’s Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver campuses.  Due to plate tectonics, an earthquake this big would come from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 1,000 km “megathrust” fault that runs from northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, California. According to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, this fault is where the Pacific’s Juan de Fuca plate slides under the North American plate. Friction…

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This is a photo of the outside of the Student Union Building at the SFSS Burnaby campus. The photo is a close up of the doors. Above the doors the sign reads “Student Union Building, Simon Fraser University”
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The Central Asian Student Association organizes fundraiser drive for the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Peak Web February 28, 2023

The Central Asian Student Association (CASA) of SFU organized a fundraiser and donation drive for the people affected by the earthquake which struck South East Turkey and North West Syria on February 6, 2023.  More than 40 million people are…

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Jessica Pilarczyk on the left and colleague on the right, looking at sediment on a blue tarp
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SFU researchers make breakthrough discovery on earthquakes and tsunamis in Greater Tokyo region

Peak Web November 19, 2021

SFU earth sciences assistant professor Jessica Pilarczyk leads her team in making a new discovery related to a plate boundary that affects the risk of earthquakes in the Greater Tokyo region. The present and historic earthquakes taking place in Tokyo…

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World News Beats

Peak Web September 22, 2018

  Airport in Libya shuts down due to rocket fire In Tripoli, Libya, the city’s sole airport, Matiga airport, closed again amidst rocket fire less than a week after it reopened. The rocket fire did not harm anyone or damage…

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Research Roundup

Peak Web July 19, 2018

Customer satisfaction affected by use of pronouns SFU Business professor Brent McFerran believes that customer service training is teaching staff the wrong way to address customers.      McFerran’s study, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, with data from…

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World News Beats

Peak Web March 17, 2018

  Canada and 10 Pacific Rim countries sign trade pact Trade ministers from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam signed a free trade deal to improve trade and remove tariffs. After the US…

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SFU research confirms most ancient earthquakes off BC’s south coast were massive

Peak Web September 27, 2017

We are all warned of the “Big One,” a magnitude 9 mega quake forecast to hit Metro Vancouver at some point in the future. The history of these massive earthquakes off the southern BC coast has prompted researchers to investigate…

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World News Beat

EIC September 15, 2017

USA – Hurricane devastates Florida Keys Hurricane Irma has left millions of people without access to power, fresh water, and gasoline and virtually flattened communities. In the Florida Keys, where Irma made landfall as a Category 4 storm, approximately 25%…

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No one at SFU is prepared for an earthquake

EIC November 9, 2015

How many of you remember fire drills in elementary and secondary school? I know I went through a couple per year. As kids, we used to think they were great — we had no class and became caught up in…

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Apathy and earthquakes don’t mix

EIC May 11, 2015

[caption id="attachment_2410" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Photo Credit: Rachelle Tjahyana[/caption] I’ll admit, I haven’t yet taken the time or $20 to make my own earthquake survival kit. It’s a simple thing to do, really. Nothing a sheer half hour spree at Canadian…

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