All but one of the homes in the path of a potential dam failure will soon vanish from a West Coast Vancouver Island community and popular surfing destination.

The hamlet of mostly empty waterfront homes stands below the Jordan River diversion dam.

Several of the houses in the path of flooding from a potential failure of the Jordan River diversion dam will be moved to new sites. (Google Maps)

In May 2016, BC Hydro purchased the homes of all but one hold out below the dam.

The area was declared the most seismic-prone area in B.C. and possibly even in Canada in 2014.

The BC Hydro earthquake evacuation map for Jordan River shows the location of the 10 houses purchased by the utility (inset). Modelling shows the area could be under 1.7 metres of water within 30 minutes of a massive earthquake.

BC Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk said the vacant houses are scheduled for demolition in late March and the area will be reseeded with grass.

"We did a study of all the facilities to see what would happen in a seismic event," Olnyk said.

BC Hydro says the Jordan River dam is at risk of failure in a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake. (BC Hydro)

While Jordan River is one of the strongest dams, he said, "it was built in the wrong location, knowing what we know now."

"Because of the Cascadia (subduction) zone it's proven to be in the worst location possible," Olnyk said. "There's no other dam built so close to such a large earthquake area."

Jordan River resident Wayne Jackaman said while the beachside hamlet will vanish settlement has increased in more recently developed areas outside of the flooding zone.