Not even Prince Edward Island is safe from earthquakes

1929 Grand Banks earthquake hit 7.2 Richter

By Waldron Leard Eastern Graphic

Chile has joined Haiti in suffering through a horrific natural disaster. Canadians and Prince Edward Islanders should not be complacent. We are susceptible to a similar event. PEI was affected by a magnitude 7.2 quake on November 18, 1929.

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Known by several names such as the Grand Banks earthquake and the South Shore disaster, this earth shaker’s epicenter was situated about 250 miles due south of Newfoundland. It was felt as far away as Montreal and New York City.

Souris and the surrounding area were affected. My dad and his oldest brother had experienced the Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917. Uncle Russell was in school and dad at home. Dishes rattled and fell. A window pane cracked in the house. The initial thought was since this war, Souris was being shelled by the enemy.

Dad told me November 1929 was a similar feeling, not much stronger, but certainly not weaker. There was a dusting of snow on the trees and it shook to the ground. The first thoughts were there was a massive explosion somewhere. Until the news was spread later, there were many theories arise as to the source.

Late that night a curious thing happened in the Souris harbour. The water level suddenly dropped for a few minutes. It wasn’t quite to bare bottom, but then a rush of water came in that rocked the boats at anchor.

Souris was fortunate, for any damage was negligible from the tsunami. The late Jake Gillam told me it was the talk of the town and also Annandale. Superstitious claims were spread from one end to the other.

Buildings in Lord's Cove tossed and smashed by the tsunami. Photograph by H.M. Mosdell, from the collection of W.M. Chisholm

Newfoundland was not so fortunate. The tsunami came ashore on the Burin Peninsula taking the lives of 28 and irrevocably changing the lives of thousands, by destroying their homes and businesses. It affected all of North America for at least a dozen submarine communications cables were snapped. A snowstorm compounded the rescue and cleanup efforts.

On January 9, 1982, I remember standing in the store wondering why my father’s collection of crockery was rattling overhead. I looked up and down Main Street but could not see a big truck anywhere. Later the media told us a 5.7 earthquake was centered in northern New Brunswick.

Dealing with earthquakes and resulting tsunamis are a part of living on Planet Earth. There is nothing we can do to prevent them. What citizens must do is develop a form of management to deal with such a catastrophe. It is in everyone’s best interest to support other countries in times of disaster. Disease and other issues can spread rapidly across the globe.

Will Prince Edward Island ever suffer through such an event? Who knows? Hopefully not in my lifetime. However all of us could be affected by a major quake that could happen anywhere in Canada. With the widespread settlement by Islanders from coast to coast to coast, it could be family members and/or friends who would require immediate assistance in for example, the greater Vancouver area.

Tsunami devastates the Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland. Approximately 2 1/2 hours after the earthquake the tsunami struck the southern end of the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland as three main pulses, causing local sea levels to rise between 2 and 7 metres. At the heads of several of the long narrow bays on the Burin Peninsula the momentum of the tsunami carried water as high as 13 metres. This giant sea wave claimed a total of 28 lives – 27 drowned on the Burin peninsula and a young girl never recovered from her injuries and died in 1933. This represents Canada’s largest documented loss of life directly related to an earthquake, although oral traditions of First Nations people record that an entire coastal village was completely destroyed by the tsunami generated by the year 1700 magnitude 9 Cascadia earthquake off the coast of British Columbia. More than 40 local villages in southern Newfoundland were affected, where numerous homes, ships, businesses, livestock and fishing gear were destroyed. Also lost were more than 280,000 pounds of salt cod. Total property losses were estimated at more than $1 million 1929 dollars (estimated as nearly $20 million 2004 dollars).NRCAN

What we must do as Islanders, is be vigilant, for the sake of all that come after us. We must shake any complacency we feel. With climactic change very evident in areas such as the Souris causeway, Basin Head Beach, and our eroding coastline we must prepare now for the future. Where we see weaknesses, we must be proactive and not reactive. We have the time now to look forward to what our beloved Island will be.

Postscript – The earthquake and tsunami were devastating to Newfoundland. The cod fishery had fallen on hard times with a steep drop in the price of cod that year. The stock market collapsed in New York and around the world. Newfoundland was short of young men due to their losses in World War I. Earlier in 1929 my grandparents, along with their family including my mother moved to Halifax, NS from Newfoundland due to the dire economic conditions on the island. My grandfather had been a captain and the owner of two schooners which were lost in the economic collapse of 1929. Three years later the government collapsed due to corruption and the economy and came under the control of England. (SP)

Waldron Leard is a broadcaster, historian, photographer, web developer and writer based in Kingsboro. His interests are a wide range of topics which may be displayed on the sites he develops, including www.ekpei.ca. He can be reached at whleard@ekpei.ca