Scenes straight out of a disaster movie unfolded across Saanich Tuesday morning after an earthquake in Alaska triggered a tsunami warning for coastal B.C.

Saanich Police walked through parts of the Cadboro Bay neighbourhood, knocking on doors of homes on Waring Place, Hibbens Close, Mystic and Killarney near Cadboro-Gyro Park, and telling residents to leave.

Volunteers readied a reception centre at Gordon Head Recreation Centre on Lambrick Way.

Areas of Saanich most susceptible to the effects of a tsunami include , according to a Saanich map.

Others, meanwhile, slept right through it all, yet no less fearful of what could have been, with many concerned about the absence of information.

It all started Tuesday morning when an earthquake This triggered a tsunami warning for not only Alaska but also coastal British Columbia.

A tsunami warning is the highest of five alert levels. Once provincial authorities relayed the warning, local officials sprung into action.

Meg Catalano, a spokesperson for the District of Saanich, said residents of 10 Saanich homes were evacuated.

B次元官网网址淲e had approximately 30 people attend the [Gordon Head Community Centre], some of whom would have self-evacuated,B次元官网网址� she said.

Officials also evacuated 30 homes in Colwood.

., some three hours after the quake, and about two-and-a-half hours after the warning was first issued just after 2 a.m.

But if this sequence sounds straight forward, Saanich residents experienced Tuesday morning in a vast variety of ways.

Jeremy Mannall-Fretwell told the Saanich B次元官网网址 in an email he found out about the alert through a series of phone calls.

B次元官网网址淚 was woken by a phone call from my mother who lives on Salt Spring,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淪he was woken by a phone call from my sister B次元官网网址� in Switzerland. Upon checking my phone, I found no text alert, and had to turn on CBC B次元官网网址world for more information. I contrast this to an incident when I was in Florida last March and received a text alert (on my Canadian cell phone) about the imminent landfall of a waterspout/tornado in the neighbourhood I was staying in. I am relatively surprised that something similar didnB次元官网网址檛 happen here.B次元官网网址�

Sara Stevens said on the Saanich B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� Facebook page that a friend of her husband called from Prince Rupert to alert them. Otherwise, she would have missed it.

While Stevens had signed up signed up for Vic-Alert, the City of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 alert system, she turned off her ringer, as she does every night. B次元官网网址淪o I slept through the text,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲ould have never known if we didnB次元官网网址檛 get a call from our friend.B次元官网网址�

Georgina Parsons said on Saanich B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� Facebook page that she B次元官网网址� like so many B次元官网网址� was in a state of uncertainty, spending her morning on social media to get updates.

B次元官网网址淎s far as me being prepared, I donB次元官网网址檛 have a car so no chance in me walking anywhere,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 just grabbed the dog, his food [and] water, and charged all my devices in my bedroom upstairs and hoped for the best.B次元官网网址�

Others were more critical. B次元官网网址淲e did not get any warnings from emergency teams, fire department or Saanich police,B次元官网网址� said Marie Bachand, on the Saanich B次元官网网址 Facebook page. B次元官网网址淲e live on Vista Bay Road, which is in Cadboro Bay. Was this not an area that might be affected by a tsunami? We would at the very least like to understand our situation with regards to an emergency such as this. Thanks.B次元官网网址�

Saanich residents can follow Saanich Emergency Program on Twitter , but it appears to lack a text alert system similar to the system in Victoria or Sidney.

Not surprisingly, several Saanich B次元官网网址 readers contacted for comment said they had signed up for Vic-Alert.

Others, meanwhile, did not hear about the earthquake or the alert, until contacted by the Saanich B次元官网网址, and provincial officials have already faced questions about the apparent absence of a region-wide warning systems.

Police stopped knocking on doors soon after they had started. The 24-hour news cycle, social media, and personal contacts served as adequate, if not always reliable, substitutes for a regional alert system. Most communities in the Greater Victoria region did not evacuate residents.

It is also important to note that high, rocky topography protects most of the District, according to what Garry Rogers, a seismologist at the Natural Resources in Sidney, said in a 2015 Saanich B次元官网网址 article about the DistrictB次元官网网址檚 most susceptible areas in the tsunami.

But an eerie feeling of what could have been nonetheless remains.

Saanich resident Megan Klammer perhaps sum it up the best.

B次元官网网址淚 heard about it on the radio at 8 a.m. on my commute in,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淣ow IB次元官网网址檓 scared that IB次元官网网址檓 out of the loop.B次元官网网址�