On Saturday Oct. 27, I was sitting at a local pub and enjoying my drink with a couple of friends when we noticed one of the chandeliers swaying. At first, we thought that it was nothing major only to realize that it was caused by an earthquake. All of us pulled out our SmartPhones and found out that there had been a major earthquake off the shore of B.C. I looked online and was glad to find that no deaths had occurred.

Since I have moved to Prince George, I have always been interested in the predictions made by geologists about the lower mainland. Geologists predict that the Lower Mainland is susceptible to a major earthquake as it lies on a major fault line. The recent earthquake did not cause any casualties, but I believe that an earthquake in the Lower Mainland area would heavily damage the aging buildings and result in many casualties. It is also to be noted that the hospital in Prince George would have to deal with a lot of injured patients that we may not be prepared for. We should learn from our mistakes made in Slave Lake, where the authorities were not ready for such a calamity as they did not have local organizations to help out.

Therefore, I think that the citizens of Prince George should unite and create a volunteer organization to train them in case such a calamity is to occur. I believe that if we stand together, we might not be able to prevent this disaster but will be able to handle it more effectively.

Gurkaran Sarohia

Prince George