While the fire service in Quebec is very advanced, well-equipped and modern in its organization, methods and tactics, earthquakes are sometimes followed by major fires (i.e. ‘fire following earthquake’) the damage from which can greatly exceed the damage caused by shaking alone. This, despite the best efforts of the fire service.
To assess the risk of fire following earthquake and identify opportunities to reduce the risk, this study looks at the possible
impacts from three realistic earthquake scenarios – a magnitude 6.5 event centred in downtown Montreal and two magnitude 7 events, one to the northwest and one to the southwest of the city. These scenarios earthquakes, it was found, would lead to very strong shaking in the study area, resulting in hundreds of breaks in the water distribution systems and hundreds of fires.
