Earthquakes may be more common than originally thought in southern Ontario

In an updated report, it has been revealed that regions throughout Ontario are not as protected from earthquakes as initially perceived. 

In a post from yesterday (Sept 2), The Weather Network updated a study detailing how earthquake activity varies throughout different regions in Canada. 

The report is primarily built on common tectonic activity out west, as the region is often subject to earthquakes of varying magnitudes due to what is described as the interplay between shifting plates deep within the planet. 

However, the study further indicates that provinces like Quebec and Ontario are not completely in the clear concerning rumblings within the earth, as they have their own kind of internal signifiers likely to cause shifts and shakes. 

This activity is caused by plate activity similar to the West Coast, however, unlike the earthquakes that occur in provinces like British Columbia, the ones out east are more commonly caused by seismic activity occurring in the middle of tectonic plates — not their colliding. 

This means that earthquake risks in southern Ontario are over half as prominent as anywhere else in Canada, however, it remains woefully underprepared. This is because, unlike the West Coast, which has a whole socioeconomic structure built on earthquake preparedness, southern Ontario does not.

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According to the report, a disproportionate number of earthquakes have been occurring in Ottawa, Montréal, and Québec City and southwest regions around the lower Great Lakes.

Further information indicates that while the types of seismic activity occurring in southern Ontario are not nearly as catastrophic as out west, there is still a hunger for knowledge of what causes them — and more specifically — a way to find out if they will ever get worse.

The means to do so — according to the report — lies in the staggering amount of physical evidence of significant earthquakes deep underwater in the vast majority of lakes throughout southern Ontario.

Scientific minds behind The Weather Network’s report went on to indicate that while they do not want to insight any undue panic among residents of southern Ontario, preparation is the best policy.