Earthquake in Ontario / Québec

[RyanX]

Re: Earthquake in Toronto?

Could the disaster in the Gulf be connected to this quake somehow? If so, are we in for a lot more shaking up here?

I think so...

Here, check this out if you haven't:

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=11333.0#lastPost

There seems to be some evidence that the movement of gas underground can cause earthquakes.

We see signs of a lot of out-gassing going on these days with all of the sink holes, dead zones, mass deaths of migrating birds, etc. Some scientists are saying that 40% of what is coming out of that hole in the gulf is methane, which, IMO, makes it more like a volcano than an oil leak.

In addition to the gas well explosions going on in the US the last few weeks, there is also this from Norway:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19691

Apparently the Norwegians are observing abnormal pressure readings inside of one of their deep sea oil wells, just like BP did before the GoM disaster. And this is all the way in the North Sea! Whatever is happening it is global and this is just the start of it.

I think we better be prepared to deal with more oil/gas disasters, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes for the continuing future. This is the literal meaning of the earth "opening up".

 

[Nawd]

I just got an email from a friend in Traverse City, MI that the earthquake was felt there as well. Looked it up, there is a report in their local newspaper.

_http://record-eagle.com/local/x383280816/Magnitude-5-5-earthquake-felt-in-Mich

 

[Gonzo]

The Globe and Mail, one of our nationally distributed newspapers recently started live blogging on their website. They invited a Dr. Baird,
a geological scientist, I assume. I tuned in a little late, but here's an interesting snip from the live blog that explains the type of earthquake we just had (an intraplate earthquake, which is less common, as opposed to a plate boundary earthquake).

Interesting how one person asked about a connection with the recent sink hole in Quebec and he just said it wasn't connected without an explanation.

From _http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/reports-of-earthquake-in-ontario/article1614941/

3:51 [Comment From Patricia Tomasi]
Why was the earthquake so deep?

3:53 Dr. Baird:
18 km is a typical deep intraplate earthquake. It's not that unusual. An intraplate earthquake is a quake that doesn't occur at the plate boundaries but at the interior of the plate. Most big quakes occur at the plate boundaries but we do get these occasional ones in the plate interiors, and this is an example.

3:53 [Comment From wayne]
the question on everybody's mind -- but no one has asked -- what is the chance that this a prelude to a larger earthquake? Would it be sooner or later?

3:54 Dr. Baird:
It's not that unusual to get quakes of that size here. The difference is that the recurrence rate is much longer in intraplate areas like here than in places at plate boundaries. There was a large quake in the same seismic zone in 1935 as well. It's not that unusual that we're seeing these quakes.

3:54 [Comment From Allison]
Amen to loving this blog. The ability to talk to each other AND talk to experts in tandem is exactly what's been missing from real-time coverage. Well done!

3:54 [Comment From GinoC]
How BIG can an intraplate eartquake get?

3:55 Dr. Baird:
The biggest intraplate quake that we know of happened in New Madrid, Missouri in 1812. There's no accurate measure of it but estimates put it around magnitude 7. Some people estimate it's a bit higher or lower but probably in the 7s. Those happen quite rarely.

3:56 [Comment From Guest]
Was this quake a lateral quake as caused by a fault sliding along, or vertical such as an uplift on one side of the fault, or by bending (up or down?)

3:58 Dr. Baird:
You can tell that from the quake's focal mechanism which has just been posted by the U.S.G.S. I'm looking at it now and that's indicating that it's a reverse slip, it's around a 45-degree angle. One side of the fault is moving up relative to the other.

3:58 [Comment From Guest]
What causes an intraplate earthquake? I think it is widely understood what causes earthquakes on the edges of plates (collisions/sliding/etc).

4:00 Dr. Baird:
Intraplate earthquakes aren't very well understood. Basically you have built-up stresses within the plate from pushing at the boundaries and that builds stress up within the plate that has to be released in some way. We get the occasional earthquake that is relieving some of the stress that has built up over a while. You get small and moderate quakes along these ancient structures - the Ottawa graben is an ancient rift zone that is no longer actively rifting but the structures - the faults - are still there.

4:00 [Comment From Cheryl]
Just wanna say this is awesome. I love learning about this and knowing why it's happening.

4:01 [Comment From Guest]
Was this quake in any way linked to the sink hole that occurred in Quebec recently?

4:02 Dr. Baird:
No. Earthquakes can trigger landslides, but this quake isn't related to the earlier sinkhole.

4:02 [Comment From Ann]
Reading with interest here on the West Coast. This Live Blog is a wonderful example of how important this method of communication can be during an earthquake or similar event. If the Internet stays up, and I still have power, I'll be looking for all of my information from the G&M (and its readers and experts) when the Big One hits here.

4:05 Thanks, Ann, and thanks very much to Dr. Baird for taking your questions. We're out of time for today with him, but we'll be posting his Q&A on the site later for further reading.

Map of earthquake zones in Canada from the Ministry of Natural Resources:
http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/zones/eastcan-eng.php
Gonzo