Earthquakes are Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s biggest hazard: $0.39 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 13 times the norm
Wildfire is rare near Electoral Area B, Nanaimo: 0.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.009% a year. Radon is lower than usual: 0.9% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Electoral Area B, Nanaimo a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s hazards
For Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area B, Nanaimo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo grades B− for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #109 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,615 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Electoral Area B, Nanaimo: 0.1% within 5 km, 0.4% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.009% of the land a year, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
70% of the land within 5 km of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is forest fuel, close to the 66% within 25 km.
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in British Columbia · highest of 255
In the upper half in British Columbia but far from Oliver (0.98%): Electoral Area B, Nanaimo ranks 100th of 255, at 0.009% a year.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or higher.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
No flood study is listed for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia, 76% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Electoral Area B, Nanaimo.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo $0.39 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Roughly 13 times the typical $0.030: Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s $0.39 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Electoral Area B, Nanaimo runs at $0.39 a year, near the $0.36 of the typical town in British Columbia; Duncan has $1.33.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 4.6% rank higher.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
0.9% of homes tested around Electoral Area B, Nanaimo are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Central Vancouver Island health region
At 0.9% over the guideline, the area around Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s area, at 0.9%, is below the median in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s band, which holds 37%.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Alerts for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | Low | $0.39 | 0.9% | None listed |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo 7,825 · 9.5 km | Low | $0.54 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Nanaimo 111,845 · 14 km | Low | $0.59 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley 2,761 · 16 km | Low | $0.55 | 0.9% | None listed |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo 3,733 · 18 km | Low | $0.44 | 0.9% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Electoral Area B, Nanaimo (low), with Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area B, Nanaimo faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s hazards, most pressing first.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Electoral Area B, Nanaimo.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
Expected earthquake damage in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo comes to $0.39 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Electoral Area B, Nanaimo at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s low band (0.4% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
Does Electoral Area B, Nanaimo flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
The area’s survey found 0.9% of 109 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo.
How is Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Electoral Area B, Nanaimo B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).