Northern Connector, November 09, 2012

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◆ NEWS Firefighters receiving praise, P. 2 ◆ NEWS Nass residents recognized, P. 6

◆ SPORTS Rampage to host Demons, P. 19 ◆ CLASSIFIEDS, P. 12-17

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PHOTO COURTESY OF PARKS CANADA / THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR

Gwaii Haanas Parks Canada superintendent Ernie Gladstone stands in now-dry Empty Cliff pool. The waters at cultural and tourist site on Haida Gwaii have vanished since the Oct. 26 earthquake struck the area.

Earthquake now tagged as the reason Haida Gwaii hotsprings have dried up By Shaun Thomas

THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR

CITY CENTRE MALL KITIMAT www.citycentremall.ca ph. 250-632-2433 email: info@citycentremall.ca REGULAR HOURS: Monday - Thursday & Saturday 9:30 am - 6 pm Friday 9:30 am - 9 pm • Sunday Noon - 5 pm

PRINCE RUPERT - While no lives were lost as a result of the Oct. 27 magnitude 7.7 earthquake, an area of significant cultural and tourism value on Haida Gwaii may now be lost forever. “This week we were able to do a site visit to Hot Spring Island and other areas to assess any impact from the earthquake. I can confirm that the pools at Hot Spring Island, and there are three or four of them, no longer have water flowing into them and the rocks around the pools, which are usually warm to touch,

are cool,” said Gwaii Haanas superintendent Ernie Gladstone last Thursday. “We had staff on-site on Oct. 25 and visited Hot Spring Island on Oct. 31... So, sometime between last Thursday and Wednesday the water stopped flowing.” Gladstone notes that Hot Spring Island is near the epicenter of the earthquake, but that one of the aftershocks measuring over magnitude 4.0 took place less than a kilometre from the site. In the Haida language the name for Hot Spring Island is Gandll K’in Gwaayaay, which means healing waters, and Glad-

stone says this is a significant loss for many on and off the islands. “It is a very significant site to the Haida, it is used to rejuvenate in the water and is a very rich site for seafood harvesting. It is also a highlight for many people who come to Haida Gwaii and travel in Gwaii Haanas,” he said. “We’re having discussions with the Geological Survey of Canada to see if this is a shortterm or long term thing.” According to geophysicist Elizabeth Hearn, a former professor of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, it is com-

mon for earthquakes to change the pattern of groundwater flow though the mechanisms for these changes are not well understood. “It is possible that the strong shaking caused small cracks to form, increasing the permeability of the rock and causing a drop in the water pressure in the hydrothermal system’s source as hot water flowed into the surrounding rock,” she said in an e-mail to the Prince Rupert Northern View. “In your case the hot spring shut off, but that might be because spring flow increased elsewhere, reducing the pressure in the hot spring reservoir,” continued Hearn.

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