Bob Mackin
If you feel the Earth move under your feet next month, don’t bother looking to the Earthquakes Canada @CanadaQuakes account on X to find out where it measured on the Richter scale.
“As of Jan. 13, 2024, this account will no longer be updated,” said a notice posted Dec. 13 by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) on X, the Elon Musk-owned site formerly known as Twitter.
(NRCan/X)
Jane Furlong, the department’s communications officer, said NRCan will stop issuing earthquake information on third-party platforms and is urging citizens to use the source website, natural-resources.canada.ca or sign-up to the RSS feed.
“The functionality of many third-party social media platforms has changed and are no longer meeting the intended objectives of accounts,” Furlong said. “For example, some platforms no longer display posts in chronological order, which can create confusion to Canadians for time-based notification systems like earthquake alerts.”
Furlong said NRCan would continue to update its website and via its RSS feed, but continuously monitor and evaluate how the department engages on social media “to maximize the reach and effectiveness of communications to Canadians.”
The B.C. government, however, is sticking to X for its emergency notifications.
“EmergencyInfoBC on X (Twitter) and EmergencyInfoBC.ca will continue to share information about all provincial emergencies, including earthquakes,” said a statement provided by the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.
“We recommend people follow trusted sources, such as EmergencyInfoBC, DriveBC and their relevant First Nation or local authority, on multiple channels, including their website, Facebook and X (Twitter).”
The province also uses B.C. Emergency Alerts broadcast to mobile phones and on radio and TV stations when needed for urgent wildfire, flood, heat and tsunami emergency information.
By spring 2024, it said the federal government will, in some cases, be able to issue earthquake early warnings (EEW) to mobile phones and broadcasters to provide short-notice warnings to drop, cover and hold on.
“These EEW notifications will be published to the EmergencyInfoBC website, and amplified on the EmergencyInfoBC X (Twitter) account,” it said.
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