The Insurance Bureau of Canada calls it a unique sensation.
The Quake Cottage is a mobile earthquake simulator touring Quebec to shake things up in the middle of a worldwide earthquake preparedness campaign.
Most Quebecers aren’t preoccupied with the possibility of an earthquake here, but the IBC notes there are 450 quakes each year in Eastern Canada, and a major event could strike close to home.
The seismological tour, which launches Thursday and runs till Oct. 15, allows visitors to step inside a large trailer to experience a 30-second earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale.
“Even a magnitude 7 quake in Quebec could see lives lost and cost tens of billions of dollars in damage. Using this experience, we would like to explain to citizens that they may go through such an event in the next 50 years and that they must learn to protect themselves,” said Pierre Babinsky, the IBC’s director of communications and public affairs.
The simulator follows a trend toward engaging the public in unique ways. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an emergency preparedness website that teaches Zombie Preparedness, which it considers an effective platform for training a wide audience about being ready for any sort of hazard.
The simulator will be in Montreal Oct. 10 and 11. The Quebec tour coincides with the Great ShakeOut, an international earthquake preparedness and educational event. For more information, visit grandesecousse.org/quebec.
