Haida Gwaii Earthquake Launches #PrayForVancouver

Why is #Pray4Vancouver trending on Twitter? On October 27, 2012, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Haida Gwaii near Vancouver at 8:04 pm with a calculated magnitude of 7.7. Online users immediately resorted to Twitter to share the information, as well as start prayers.?Although the rest of Vancouver city is generally safe from the effects, people couldn?t help but be concerned about the 50 aftershocks felt afterwards. Since October 28, 2012, aftershocks were felt by many, especially those residing in the coastal areas. The hashtag #PrayForVancouver created a worldwide trend, with thousands of Canadians and others around the world sharing their concerns, prayers and informative details. There were also a number of agencies which continued to provide accurate and quick facts about the recent quake. Earthquakes Canada (@CANADAquakes) provided quick tweets to keep people updated on the developments by providing the time, location and other incidental matters. Earthquakes Canada is part of Natural Resources Canada. A government account on Twitter, Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC), was also highly involved in the ongoing discussions and conversations. News and updates were given whenever possible since the agency gets fast facts from the seismometers placed along the coast. The data gathered is then computed by experts with the results immediately forwarded to help people stay calm. Many found the hashtag #PrayForVancouver very helpful especially among those who initially didn?t know much about seismic activity and geology. The tweets were a combination of sentimental comments, apocalyptic declarations and even comedy. Funnily enough, the hashtag was actually pretty misleading. The earthquake was in Haida Gwaii, which is miles off Vancouver, leading many Twitter users to also feel upset about the inaccurate location on the hashtag. Some of the interesting ones are as follows: