Weekly wrap: Earthquakes, storms and killer mushrooms

Each week we put together a list of some of the stories you might have missed: those which dominated the news agenda, and some we just can't resist retelling.

The fear of the Big One hitting ushere in British Columbia is never far from peoples' minds and this week, Johanna Wagstaffe and Jessica Linzeydove deep into those concerns with their seriesFault Lines.

Ithighlights several issues around risk and preparation for a major earthquake in the province.

Earthquake stories of any kind often captivate our audience, but this series differed in the depth and insight it offered beyond our regular reporting of minor quakes off the coast.

For instance, find out why seismologist Alison Bird won't park underground, or why other major earthquakes you probably don't know about could be even more damaging than the one we're all waiting for.

And to alleviate your worries, you may want to read about how to survive a catastrophicearthquake, especially given that seismic engineers are warning about mass homelessness if one does strike.

Natural disasters big and small

On a more pressing note in the major disasters in B.C. file, many of our readers were keeping up with news of this week's ongoing storm situation.

The first of three powerful storms began on Wednesday night and continue to pound away at the coast today with the remnants ofSuper Typhoon Songda.

But in true B.C. fashion, some are making the most of the situation by heading to Tofino to watch the waves come crashing in whilesipping on hot toddies from the safety of theroom at their resort.

On a much smaller scalein the natural disasters file but more tragic was the death of a three-year-old Victoria boy who died after eating a "death cap" mushroom.

The boy was foraging for wild mushrooms with his familyin downtown Victoria.He was treated there, then airlifted to Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, where he died.

Death caps are responsible for 90 per cent of fatal mushroom poisonings in the world, and they're on the rise in B.C.

Shocking charges

Moving away from natural disasters, another story that captured our audience'sattention reported onyouth sports coach Randy Downesfacing several child pornography charges.

Downes, 59,has coached at various levels of hockey and baseball for three decades, including withthe Burnaby Winter Club, the Coquitlam Minor Hockey Association and Coquitlam-MoodyBaseball.

He was released on $1,000 bail the day after he was charged.

Another man facing charges this week that caught peoples' attention wasSheldonThunderblanket. He was facing first-degree murder charges related to a death on the Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Thunderblanket then became the lead suspect in the non-fatal shooting of a police officer near Golden, B.C., which left hundreds of travellers stranded.

He was found dead near Revelstoke, B.C., the following day.