Earthquake in Canada

[Owain Taggart]

There was a 5.0 earthquake in Canada today. Did anyone feel it? I heard it was felt as far as Ohio and Vermont. I was at my computer earlier today when the house was swaying from side to side, and wasn't completely sure what was going on. We sometimes get little shakes due to mining blasts being done underground, but this was different. We don't get many earthquakes here either, so it was kind of interesting. Ottawa felt it quite a bit apparently, and I think there even was some damage.

Anyway, here's some info from where it originated:

http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/recent_eq/2010/20100623.1741/index-eng.php

 

[Amaris]

I can confirm it was felt here in Ohio, southwestern Ohio to be exact.

 

[What's his face]

I didn't feel it, but others in my area did.

 

[Canadave]

It was pretty intense here, at least if you're like me and not used to earthquakes. Last major one (over Richter 5) we had was back in '98, and there was definitely a few seconds where this one was a bit scary. Here's a couple videos that happened to get taken during it, the first from a random vlogger who happened to be recording:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKg4skHe3V8[/yt]

And one from our City Council, which happened to be in session at the time:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKKAEkybanQ[/yt]

So yeah. We're not California, but it was still pretty surprising.

 

[nevermore]

Apparently it was felt all the way down here to Baltimore. I, however, did not feel it.

 

[Amaris]

^ I love the guy's reaction in the first video.

 

[DeafPoet]

I just talked to my old man, who lives about an hour north of Toronto (where there were reports) and he didn't feel a thing. Then again, he's pretty single-minded. If it didn't rattle the computer off his lap he probably wouldn't have noticed

 

[Canadave]

^ I love the guy's reaction in the first video.

My own reaction was very similar, actually.

 

[Goliath]

I didn't feel anything here in Sudbury. What a ripoff.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I didn't feel anything here in Sudbury. What a ripoff.

I'm in Sudbury too, and I felt something. Must of been the location you were in, because my Mom was working at a mall, and she didn't feel anything. I can tell you my monitor felt something too. It was shaking quite a bit.

 

[Trekker4747]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKKAEkybanQ[/yt]

Heh. I apologize, but that's kind of funny.

:doing council meeting business:
:room begins to shake:
Guy (nonchalant) "Now that's an earthquake...."
:room begins to shake a bit more violently:
Guy: :darts out:

 

[eastman23]

Jeez... all we get here are floods.

And the occasional tornado.

 

[Marc]

Jeez... all we get here are floods.

And the occasional tornado.

Well here we got the earthquake today, there's currently a tornado watch out but not major flooding since 2005.

My wife felt the earthquake to day but I didn't and I was 5 feet from her at the time.

 

[Ruaidhri]

I work in North York (Toronto) on Yonge Street. I was conducting a training of new hires and noticed a strange shaking in the floor and thought it was someone in the next room jumping around. Then, when the group starting asking what was happening, I noticed that the long boardroom table was shaking a bit, that the projection screen was swaying, and the dry erase board on the wall was rattling. Then it stopped. So I tell the group to sit tight and go out to the contact center and everybody is FREAKING out, and the floor manager is telling everyone to stay calm. Most of the office buildings around Mel Lastman square emptied out into the square, I wish I had taken pictures!

I work in a ten-floor office building in Toronto, and this thing shook the building enough that everyone knew what it was. Clearly not strong enough in TO to cause damage, so anybody with any sense wasn't concerned, but we had one employee who was so upet that he went home. He didn't want to come back into the building!

 

[What's his face]

My mother works in Huntsville, where the G8 summit this weekend will be held. She was worried at first that a bomb had gone off, but quickly realized that it was an earthquake.

I didn't feel it. I feel ripped off, too.

 

[Canadave]

Heh. I apologize, but that's kind of funny.

:doing council meeting business:
:room begins to shake:
Guy (nonchalant) "Now that's an earthquake...."
:room begins to shake a bit more violently:
Guy: :darts out:

Nah, I find it kind of hilarious as well. 'Specially because this guy is one of the more outspoken members of Council and currently running for mayor.

 

[WeAreTheBorg]

I was on the 4th story of a wooden building at St Clair and Yongue in Toronto and the whole fucking thing was swaing back and forth. For a brief moment I thought the building was gonna come down... I had never felt an earthquake in my life. Very scary new experience.

 

[M'Sharak]

We don't get many earthquakes here either, so it was kind of interesting.

You do, actually. The area from northern New York state up through southwestern Quebec and southeastern Ontario is pretty active, seismically, but the majority of quakes which occur there are of relatively low magnitude; they're happening, but you don't notice them because they're below the perception threshold of 2.0-2.5.

Click here and scroll down about halfway to "Western Quebec Seismic Zone" for more detail and a map showing historical seismicity.

I didn't feel anything here in Sudbury. What a ripoff.

I'm in Sudbury too, and I felt something. Must of been the location you were in, because my Mom was working at a mall, and she didn't feel anything. I can tell you my monitor felt something too. It was shaking quite a bit.

Whether you feel a quake or not can vary quite a bit over short distances according to the geologic character of the ground you happen to be sitting on; what one person notices, another person only a mile away might not. What you're doing at the moment also makes a difference; you're more likely to notice a quake if you're sitting than if you're standing, and more likely to notice one standing than if you're out driving around or engaging in strenuous physical activity. Indoors vs. outdoors, same deal.

 

[backstept]

I was having lunch with my Dad at a local pizza place and he got a call from his wife saying that there was an earthquake. We didn't feel it

 

[Owain Taggart]

We don't get many earthquakes here either, so it was kind of interesting.

You do, actually.

Actually, I don't. I live in Northern Ontario and it just isn't very common here. Like I explained earlier, we usually feel mining blasts, but that's about it. This was pretty major in comparison. But yeah, anyway, I was sitting, so I'm sure it made a difference.