We should all breath a sigh of relief that we ducked what could have been a massive disaster after Mother Nature decided to readjust one of the tectonic plates next to Haida Gwaii on Saturday night.
Registering 7.7 on the Richter scale, this violent shaker was the largest earthquake in Canada in more than 60 years.
Amazingly, it didn't cause a tsunami due to the type of earthquake it was, and luckily no one was hurt. But the next one could do a lot of damage, should even a smaller tremor heave a little closer to the cities in the Lower Mainland.
And the likelihood there will be some big earthquakes is not a theory - we sit on a pile of unstable plates constantly pushing at each other.
And if you think that somehow our advanced technology will protect us from other natural events, just look to the east coast, where the monstrous sub-tropical storm Sandy has delivered devastation to New York.
How ready are you and your family to face such a disaster?
If you or your spouse commutes across one of the bridges into Greater Vancouver, how would you communicate?
What plans have you made for your children or elderly parents should a big quake rattle the B.C. coast?
Do you have food, water, medications and pet food to last a few days? Do you know where to turn off the gas to your house? Does your neighbourhood have a plan?
If you only use a cellphone, how would you communicate if there was no power and your battery ran low?
The Haida Gwaii earthquake and the miserable tropical storm that pounded the east coast should shake us out of our complacency enough to make some sort of emergency preparations.
The Provincial Emergency Program, at pep.bc.ca, and the City of Burnaby has emergency tips and lists to help us prepare to ride out such natural disasters.
Get yourself and your loved ones prepared now - not after the event happens.
