The Montebello area of Dartmouth, N.S., once again experienced a minor earthquake on Tuesday — an aftershock from the event that dominated the news on Monday.
Earthquakes Canada indicates the aftershock occurred at 12:42 a.m., at a depth of approximately 2 km, measuring 2.6 in magnitude.
Halifax Regional Police say they received multiple calls from residents throughout Dartmouth reporting hearing sounds similar to explosions and their homes shaking.
READ MORE: Earthquakes Canada seismologist explains loud noise heard during Dartmouth earthquake
That’s not unexpected, officials with the federal government confirmed to Global News on Monday.
Nick Ackerley, a seismologist for Natural Resources Canada, said that earthquakes may produce seismic waves when travelling through solid rock, which can create loud sounds.
“When those seismic waves reach the surface, they directly shake the air and that makes sound,” Ackerley said. “So it’s quite normal, especially when you are quite close to an earthquake and especially when that earthquake is shallow, to hear as well as feel the earthquake.”
Police officers and members of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency responded to the Westphal and Montebello neighbourhoods but no injuries or damage to property were reported.
According to Ackerley, Halifax isn’t in a region that’s known for earthquakes. That’s because the city is quite far from the edges of any tectonic plates that might be rubbing together.
But the seismologist said the incident on Monday was a good reminder that the region can be hit by quakes.
“They go way back in the historical record and we are going to keep having them,” he said on Monday. “The next one could be bigger, so we need to be prepared.”
Ackerley adds Earthquakes Canada does have advice when an earthquake is suspected.
“If you start feeling really big shaking, you drop to the floor, you cover yourself by getting under some kind of sturdy object and you wait until the shaking stops.”
Comments