Sidney by the Sea, BC
Posted by: 
arby101ca
N 48° 38.921 W 123° 24.381
10U E 470070 N 5388482
The motto for the town of Sidney is "by the sea". This motto is incorporated in a dramatic great wave welcome sign at the main entrance to town, Beacon Ave at Hw 17.
Waymark Code: WMFCGF
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 09/28/2012
Views: 11
Sidney BC is an attractive town of 12,000 with two defining characteristics The first is described with the motto, "By the Sea". The second is the demographics, 40% over 65 years old. It is an attractive place for retirees like myself. Here we can enjoy a walk along the seaside promenade, looking across to the snow capped Mt Baker, and waiting for the tsunami from the rupture of the Cascadia Fault.
The town welcome sign painted by Stacey Studio in 2000 is patterned after the famous great wave woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai about 1833. "Under the Wave off Kanagawa" is the classic picture of a tsunami wave. For the Sidney sign, Mt Baker substitutes for Mt Fuji, the magnitude of the wave is reduced and no boats are included.
Since the welcome sign was painted, the threat of a mega-thrust earthquake along the Cascadia Fault and a destructive tsunami has become an acknowledged reality. The fault has ruptured many times in the past, 17 times recorded in the sediments offshore since the glaciers melted. The frequency is every 300 to 500 years. The last one was in 1701, recorded in the oral history of local natives and destruction of the harbour in Kyoto, all the way across the Pacific. The probability is estimated to be 40% in the next 60 years. For further information see the book "Cascadia's Fault" by Jerry Thompson.
Type of community: Town
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Visit Instructions:
More pictures of the sign would be great. Try and take a picture of yourself with it if you can!