A 2.7 magnitude earthquake shook communities in southwestern Ontario on Friday evening.
The seismic activity began at 5:40 p.m. about 35 kilometres northeast of Chatham. Residents have reported feeling the impact in Thamesville, Blenheim, and Ridgetown.
Allison Bent, a seismologist with Earthquakes Canada, noted the movements were significant enough for residents to feel, but likely did not cause any damage.
“Earthquakes that small can happen pretty much anywhere,” Bent said. “What we believe is that they’re happening on pre-existing faults and it’s just the stresses in the earth every now and then causing them to rupture.”
Bent noted there are hundreds of earthquakes of this size across the world each day.
Typically, humans can feel activity that surpasses about two on the Richter scale, bent noted.
No injuries have been reported as a result of the earthquake.
While it may have been small, earthquake activity is less common in most of southwestern Ontario.
Many residents took to social media in search of the reasoning behind “shaking” across the community.
Zack Stubbington, a Thamesville resident, told CTV News he had headphones on when the seismic wave began without notice.
“I was gaming, playing PlayStation, and I had these headphones on and I heard something extremely loud,” Stubbington said. “It kind of shook the ground and I took off my headphones and kind of walked to the door. Nothing going by, I couldn’t hear the horn of the train, so I knew it wasn’t the train, but it was loud. It lasted about, I want to say 10, 15 seconds and it was over.”
Stubbington noted the earthquake did not wake his seven-month-old son and his wife did not notice the shaking.
In an area where they often feel the movement of trains, he said it is “crazy” to know they could experience earthquakes.
“I’m surprised to hear about it, for one, and actually confirm that it was an earthquake, and just surprised in general that that actually happened,” Stubbington said.
Though earthquakes can at times be followed by larger seismic activity, Bent noted it is a rare occurrence.
The seismologist added Friday’s event should be a reminder for area residents to have a plan and resources, in the event a more significant earthquake hits the region.
“The basic thing is if you feel very strong shaking drop, cover and hold on, so get yourself away from windows and objects that can fall on you,” Bent said. “In the event there was a really big earthquake, what you would want to do is what you would do to prepare for any other emergency, which is just prepare to be self-sufficient for a couple of days.”
