Burlington has reported two minor earthquakes that occurred overnight into Wednesday, with a magnitude of about 1.4 being felt by some locals.
According to Earthquakes Canada, the first earthquake struck around 10:42 p. m. on Tuesday, approximately 7 km east of Burlington, registering a magnitude of 1.4. The second quake followed in the same location two and a half hours later, this time at a magnitude of 1.5.
Fortunately, there were no injuries or damages reported since both quakes were quite small. However, a few residents did mention feeling something unusual, as the epicenter was near the pier.
Some Burlington residents told CHCH News they heard sounds resembling a loud bang but didn’t feel anything substantial enough to be alarming.
“It’s not an area that’s generally prone towards earthquakes and certainly not large earthquakes, but it is interesting that we’re seeing these moderate seismic events on a fairly regular basis,” said Chris Boucher, a seismic analyst with Natural Resources Canada.
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Boucher noted that Burlington isn’t entirely new to these types of earthquakes.
“If we see, you know, 1 to 3 for every year or so, some of them are too small to be felt, but we’re seeing a little bit of this cluster of earthquakes,” said Boucher. “I wouldn’t say they are increasing – our detection capabilities may have increased slightly since then.”
This month has also seen other parts of Ontario experiencing quakes, including a magnitude 1.4 quake in Hastings Highlands on Sunday and another measuring 1.1 in Gravenhurst last Tuesday.
The last recorded earthquake in Burlington occurred earlier this year on January 7 when a magnitude 1.3 quake happened about 4 km east-northeast of the city.
Boucher mentioned that while southwestern Ontario isn’t known for frequent earthquakes, Natural Resources Canada advises everyone to drop, cover and hold on during such events.
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