Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainShaking costs buildings in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo $0.34 a year per $1,000 of value, 11 times the typical town’s
Burn scars are few around Electoral Area H, Nanaimo, with 0.5% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.01% a year). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0.9% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Electoral Area H, Nanaimo a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s hazards
For Electoral Area H, Nanaimo, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area H, Nanaimo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo: B−
The grade weighs Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #103 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,594 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.
Wildfire is rare near Electoral Area H, Nanaimo: 0.5% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Fire claims 0.01% of the land around Electoral Area H, Nanaimo each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 6.0 km away.
Forest crowds in on Electoral Area H, Nanaimo: 85% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 73% 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
Electoral Area H, Nanaimo sits mid-table in British Columbia: 90th of 255 towns, at 0.01% a year, well behind Oliver (0.98%).
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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Electoral Area H, Nanaimo among them, though its rate is above zero; 7.5% rank 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.
Electoral Area H, Nanaimo is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area H, Nanaimo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy studied flooding in an area that includes Electoral Area H, Nanaimo (1997); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Qualicum River Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1997 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Electoral Area H, Nanaimo with 76% of towns in British Columbia; Canada’s share is 58%.
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 H, 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo $0.34 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.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Electoral Area H, Nanaimo loses $0.34, 11.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Electoral Area H, Nanaimo at $0.34 beside a median in British Columbia of $0.36, with Duncan on top at $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 H, Nanaimo is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 5.8% 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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Electoral Area H, Nanaimo.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Electoral Area H, Nanaimo: 0.9% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Fewer homes than usual test high around Electoral Area H, Nanaimo: 0.9% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Electoral Area H, 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.
Electoral Area H, Nanaimo is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% have more.
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.
A low area share in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Central Vancouver Island health region
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo
Alerts for Electoral Area H, 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 H, Nanaimo to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area H, Nanaimo | Low | $0.34 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area F, Alberni-Clayoquot 2,141 · 18 km | Moderate | $0.42 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Qualicum Beach 9,640 · 19 km | Low | $0.47 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area E, Alberni-Clayoquot 3,069 · 19 km | Moderate | $0.49 | 0.9% | Yes |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Electoral Area F, Alberni-Clayoquot’s, moderate to Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area H, Nanaimo faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area H, Nanaimo faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 H, Nanaimo.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area H, Nanaimo, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area H, Nanaimo is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo?
Around Electoral Area H, Nanaimo, 109 survey homes were tested and 0.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Electoral Area H, Nanaimo flood?
There is flood mapping for Electoral Area H, Nanaimo on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is Electoral Area H, Nanaimo at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.5% of the land around Electoral Area H, Nanaimo since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area H, Nanaimo?
About $0.34 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area H, Nanaimo.
How is Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area H, Nanaimo’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).