A 1.6 magnitude earthquake struck Burlington last night, Thursday, Dec. 12, shaking homes and scaring a few residents.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., people living near the lake close to Appleby Line reported hearing a loud bang, and felling their houses shaking.
“It was small, and I appreciate that it can be scary, especially since people felt it,” Nick Ackerley, a seismologist for Earthquakes Canada said. “Given that people felt it, it suggests that whatever it was relatively shallow.”
The exact coordinates of the quake are 43.39 degrees north and -79.74 degrees west, putting the quake right behind Ryder Used Truck Sales on Superior Ct.
Ackerley said a similar event took place in May, which was also a less than 2 magnitude earthquake.
“It was perhaps a few kilometres deep, and we’ve seen this sort of thing before where a very small, shallow earthquake can be felt in populated areas like Burlington or Oakville.”
Residents posted on Facebook and Reddit about the event last night, saying they thought it may have been something to do with Metrolinx construction, or a frostquake.
“We don’t think it had anything to do with ice or a frostquake,” Ackerley said.
Steve Dewey, a Burlington resident who felt the quake, said neighbours came out of their houses to see what was going on.
“All the neighbours seemed to indicate it was coming from different directions,” Dewey said. “Ours came from our house, facing the south, we thought it came from the east. Our neighbour directly next to us said it came from the west.”
Halton Regional Police Service said they have not received any reports of injury or damage from the earthquake last night.
