Photo: Canuckle · CC0Earthquake risk in Richmond runs 21 times the typical Canadian town’s: $0.63 per $1,000 a year
Burn scars are few around Richmond, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.004% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Richmond a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Richmond’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Richmond: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Richmond faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Richmond: B−
Earthquake risk and radon make Richmond’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #96 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,572 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 54 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Richmond: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.6% within 5 km
Past fire around Richmond’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.004% of the land a year around Richmond, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The nearer ring around Richmond is less wooded (5.9% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (25%).
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
Oliver tops the 255 towns in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Richmond, at 0.004%, comes 144th.
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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Richmond reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
A flood study covers Richmond, from City of Vancouver: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Richmond: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Richmond the inventory points to City of Vancouver’s 2014 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver Coastal Flood Risk Assessment | City of Vancouver | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, Richmond included, beside 58% across Canada.
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 Richmond.
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.
Shaking is Richmond’s costliest hazard: $0.63 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Richmond’s $0.63 is about 21.1 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Above the middle in British Columbia: Richmond’s $0.63 against a median of $0.36, with Duncan highest 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.
Only 0.7% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Richmond.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Richmond’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
0% of homes tested around Richmond are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 0% of tested homes around Richmond, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; around Richmond it is 0%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few tests over the guideline: Richmond shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Richmond as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Richmond health region
Weather and fire alerts for Richmond
Alerts for Richmond 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. |
Evacuation orders for Richmond come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Richmond’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | Low | $0.63 | 0% | Yes |
| Marpole 28,182 · 6.0 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Oakridge 14,071 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Sunset 37,186 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Kerrisdale 14,105 · 8.0 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Victoria-Fraserview 31,095 · 8.7 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Musqueam 2 1,879 · 9.3 km | Low | $0.60 | 1.2% | Yes |
The fire record around Musqueam 2 is a touch heavier than Richmond’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Richmond faces
Practical steps for Richmond’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?
- 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. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Richmond’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Richmond’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Richmond takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Richmond.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Richmond
Is Richmond at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Richmond’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2022), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Richmond flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Richmond; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Richmond?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Richmond’s buildings lose $0.63 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Richmond?
0% of the 54 homes Health Canada tested around Richmond topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Richmond’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Richmond’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).