SSC on the frontline: NRCan’s seismic services restored in record time after flooding

On August 16, 2024, a water main rupture in downtown Montréal resulted in flash flooding at Telesat’s teleport, causing a major outage that threatened Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) critical earthquake monitoring services. These services are essential for detecting seismic tremors in real-time and allow authorities to act quickly.

As soon as the incident was reported, SSC’s WAN Science and Operations team members Todd Gagnon, Benoit Seguin and Susan Paterson quickly handled this unforeseen situation. The Ottawa-based team travelled to Montréal with the necessary equipment to respond to the emergency on the ground and quickly restore essential services to protect Canadians.

The power outage caused by the flood temporarily disabled sensors in Canada’s northern regions, compromising earthquake detection capability across the country.

Thanks to the dedication of the WAN Science and Operations team, NRCan’s surveillance operations were able to resume quickly.

Pierre Pelletier, NRCan’s Chief Information Officer, emphasized the importance of this rapid response: “Timely resolution of resiliency issues is critical when it comes to NRCan’s services. While our department is a science-based department, it plays a critical role in the public safety of all Canadians, and it is important to have the support of SSC as a service delivery partner.”

This event shows the importance of technical teams in crisis management. Their rapid response has restored seismic services that protect Canadians from natural disasters. This demonstrates SSC’s commitment to responding to emergencies and ensuring the resilience of federal government services.