Richmond
quote="SeaHorse_Fanatic"]According to geologists, if the Lower Mainland was hit by an earthquake 8.0 or higher, Richmond & all the Fraser River Delta lands would liquify & disappear into the water. Not a pleasant thought, eh.[/quote]
Well i worked in Richmond for 8 years between 1995-2003 and saw many high rises go up in the city center during that time period. My observations include:
1) NOBODY has basements in Richmond because I was told they would flood.
2) the building companies put a 20-30 feet high mound of sand in the building area for about a year and then pound that sand and huge poles for months into the ground before building in that area. I talked to some construction workers who explained that it was required to stabalize the ground because it was too soft to build high rises.
I talked to a geologist who did some studies for the City of Richmond (and may be employed by the City) who said that Richmond is nothing more than a build-up of silt from the Fraser River hence the creation of the north fraser and south fraser arm around richmond into the ocean. They said that a strong earthquake could easily settle that silt making Richmond sink or dissolve the silt into surrounding water. I didn't ask him about south delta but i believe its the same type of land formation as Richmond.
Its kinda scary driving all around the perimeter of Richmond and notice that its completely surrounded by a dyke. A few years back when we had the huge snowfall winter and the fraser river rised too high in the spring causing floods in various areas of Richmond. If anybody lives in Richmond, can you confirm if you can purchase earthquake insurance? I've heard from different people that it is not an option for residences in Richmond but then I've also heard otherwise so I can't confirm.
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