Vancouver Island sits atop the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where sea-floor of the Juan de Fuca plate is being pushed eastward beneath the North America continent. This process of subduction generates different types of earthquakes, including great (magnitude 8+) “megathrust earthquakes” along the plate boundary, with associated tsunami; shallow “crustal earthquakes” within the over riding North American plate; and deep “slab earthquakes” within the down-going Juan de Fuca plate. All have the potential to generate hazardous ground shaking.

SchoolShake is installing a network of Raspberry Shake seismometers in southern Vancouver Island schools to provide a real-time feed of ground shaking and earthquake locations. This program will give students and teachers a hands-on opportunity to learn about earthquakes and participate in a large-scale community science experiment that will gain new insights into the faults beneath our beautiful island.