In the evening quiet of Sunday, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake subtly unsettled the peace in southwestern Ontario, its tremors catching the attention of many local inhabitants. The time just past half-past ten, the quake was recorded particularly in the vicinity of St. Thomas, Ontario, confirmed by Earthquakes Canada.
For many, the experience was an unexpected one. London resident Carol Dyck was in the midst of watching television in her basement when the ground beneath her began to quiver. Recalling her surprised reaction, she mused, “It never occurred to me that it was an earthquake. I just thought, ‘Did a tree fall?’”The question on her lips was like that of many others, “Why is the ground shaking right now?”
Although only some residents in southwestern Ontario noticed the tremors, its geographical influence was fairly widespread, with Stephen Crane, a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada confirming receipt of reports from Ajax, Ontario and Orangeville.
The earthquake originates five kilometers below the surface, tracing its coordinates approximately 62 kilometers east-northeast of Cleveland, OH, and 184 kilometers east-southeast of Detroit, Mich. Crane advised that, “When an earthquake does occur, if you start to feel the shaking, your immediate action should be to take personal protective action. Generally for most people it’s to drop, cover and hold on.”
Fortunately, the event passed by without any injuries reported. Crane elucidated that the earthquakes falling below a magnitude of 5 on the Richter scale generally tend to be less severe. Dr. Robert Shcherbakov, a graduate chair and associate professor at Western University’s Department of Earth Sciences, commented on his own direct experience of the phenomenon, “To be honest I felt it, the earthquake at home yesterday in London on my second floor.”
He further expounded on the probable cause, pointing out, “There were reported earthquakes southeast in Ohio, and they are linked to hydraulic fracturing because they have some hydraulic fracturing operations.” This process, used to extract oil and natural gas trapped in rock formations, can sometimes lead to minor seismic occurrences.
