5.5 Earthquake Hits Canada; Felt in US Midwest, New England

joelmax writes "A magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit central Canada this afternoon, rattling buildings from Windsor to Montreal to several US states. The epicentre of the quake was in Quebec, 61 kilometres north of Ottawa, according to the US Geological Survey, and struck at 1:41 pm EDT." If you felt this quake, it would be great to put your location in the title of your comments, below — with lat/long coordinates even better.

5.5? Feh!

[gyrogeerloose]

On the 5th floor of the Key Bank building. EVERYBODY PANIC!!!

What a bunch of wimps.

Here in southern California, a mere 5.5 would hardly even arouse anyone's interest. Probably make page 1 of the local section unless the Padres made a big trade; then it would be relegated to page 2.

Re:5.5? Feh!

[JO_DIE_THE_STAR_F***]

Yeah, and if the temperature in southern California dropped to -40C and dumped 2 feet of snow, California would be shut down for a week and the national guard would be called in.

Where as in Edmonton, Alberta that's a regular Tuesday (in January).

It's all a matter of perspective.

If your on a ocean going vessel and your hit by a 30m rouge wave that's a minor incident.

If on the other hand your riding your bike through the park and get hit by a 30m rouge wave You may drown and the event is going to make headlines the world over.

Re:Can 5.5 even be felt at ground zero?

[Kymermosst]

It's unusual for the location.

No, it isn't. [usgs.gov]

Re:5.5? Feh!

[nizo]

I'd be worried about quakes too if I lived someplace that wasn't accustomed to having them and had many old non-earthquake safe buildings.

So how's your tornado shelter?

Re:You big babies. It's 5.0, not 5.5.

[Minwee]

No kidding. There was a 5.7 quake down here a week ago - you know who cared? No one. But a 5.0 (not 5.5, reported by TFA) hits Canada, and it's a front page slashdot story.

Don't worry. When California gets its largest quake since 1935, people will stand up and notice that too.

Re:Shaking in Ottawa

[Quiet_Desperation]

Seriously. 5.5? I don't get out of bed for anything less than a 6.5.

I guess we're just jaded here in SoCal.

Re:felt in toronto

[Dorkmaster Flek]

I felt it at my work in the downtown core as well. It was a small rumble here, though. I doubt it caused any real damage, although given the fact that the G20 is in town, an earthquake was not my first instinct when I felt it...

Obligatory xkcdsucks

[Anonymous Coward]

http://xkcdsucks.blogspot.com/2010/04/comic-723-waves-of-confusion.html [blogspot.com]

Re:I felt it....ohhh wait.

[phantomfive]

Wow, from that picture I suddenly understood American attitudes towards soccer. The guy with his taped up fingers (and exaggeratedly padded muscles) running like he could pound through a refrigerator looks way more manly than the guy with what looks like a hacky sack and herbalife written on his chest. It also explains soccer's heightened popularity in certain parts of California. Soccer needs to get new sponsors, that's all I can say.

Re:5.5? Feh!

[gyrogeerloose]

Snow day? Ha, here in SoCal just a rainy day is a major upset in our routines. Odd how you get used to some things.

Earthquakes = No problem. Drizzle = OMG WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!!!

LOL, yeah, that's true! Major mayhem on the highway whenever it rains down here but that's not due to panic, it's due to it being way too easy to get a drivers license in this state.

Re:Shaking in Ottawa

[noidentity]

If you're in an area that isn't hit often, it's smart to take it seriously, even though people in other areas treat the same magnitude earthquake something less-serious. People in the latter place are used to handling the after-effects, and the infrastructure is made to handle it better. In other words, the context matters as well as the event.

Re:Known hazard area

[cuby]

Or simply...That area is in a rift valley (not a small thing): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa-Bonnechere_Graben [wikipedia.org]

Re:Shaking in Ottawa

[ShakaUVM]

>>You know, as a resident of Southern California, I don't get many opportunities to call anybody else a weenie*...

Seriously.

Since when is a mere 5.5 earthquake front page news on Slashdot? I guess people in other parts of the country don't really understand that a 5.5 is quite weak.

Re:Shaking in Ottawa

[FiloEleven]

It's news because it's an unusual geological event, and there are lots of geeks who find this sort of thing interesting. Since it was so widespread, I'm sure they got a lot of submissions from people who were affected by it.

Re:CHAOS in Upstate New York

[damn_registrars]

I'd wager that anyone who moderated my comment "funny" hasn't been to Upstate New York (or not for very long). I was really expecting to be moderated "informative" or "insightful" instead.

Oh well, you can't always get what you want. And on the roads here you're lucky to get anything better than rear-ended.