Small earthquake hits Ontario, rumbles felt in Ajax, Oshawa
theweathernetwork.com
Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 7:12 AM - A small earthquake struck southern Ontario near the Greater Toronto Area, though no damage or injuries were reported. The tremor, registering Magnitude 2.4, struck 14 kilometres SSE from Ajax at around 5:27 p.m. EDT Tuesday afternoon.
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Though low on the scale, the shallow depth of 10 km made it easier to feel for people in and around the epicentre.
On Twitter, people in Whitby, Oshawa and Ajax reported feeling the earth rumbling near the dinner hour.
LESS THAN 15 KM SOUTH OF AJAX
RARE, BUT NOT UNHEARD OF
Eastern Canada is not bestride or near any major plates, but it still does receive relatively weak earthquakes from time to time, and USGS says the Charlevoix-Kamouraska area of Quebec is particularly prone.
Though large quakes in eastern North America are rare, USGS says even smaller ones are likelier to be felt by people far away from the epicentre.
"East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area more than ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast," the agency says. "It would not be unusual for a magnitude 4.0 earthquake in eastern or central North America to be felt by a significant percentage of the population in many communities more than 100 km (60 mi) from its source."
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