# Earthquake tracking **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254 "2010-06-23T17:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/1 "2010-06-23T17:49:07Z")
Is there anywhere that tracks earthquakes across North America. I am surrounded by a floor full of people who are sure we just went through a mild earthquake here in Toronto but I can’t find anyplace to get information on the possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/2 "2010-06-23T17:50:37Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Is there anywhere that tracks earthquakes across North America. I am surrounded by a floor full of people who are sure we just went through a mild earthquake here in Toronto but I can’t find anyplace to get information on the possibility. Yes, I’m hearing reports from well out of town too. I missed it, I was in an elevator at the time and didn’t feel anything unusual (it’s a crappy elevator), but there was a lot of activity in the office when I stepped out of it. ETA: There is a site that was just recently in a thread here that tracks earthquakes. I’ll try to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/3 "2010-06-23T17:51:08Z")
[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/) Click on the US map, it also covers southern Canada. Nothing near Toronto at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/4 "2010-06-23T17:52:56Z")
I felt a very mild earthquake in Columbus, Ohio, within the last few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/5 "2010-06-23T17:54:14Z")
I just logged on to Straight Dope to ask about this – whether anyone else felt a tiny earthquake – but I am in New York City. It was at about 1:45. It was so small that I actually thought I just had a slight dizzy spell, but I looked over at my teenage son, who was in the same room, and he said “Whoa, did you feel that?” We could also see a floor lamp in the room swaying very slightly. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/6 "2010-06-23T17:58:43Z")
I googled “earthquake in nyc” and the first result is a list of twitters. There are hits for Ottawa, Toronto, Detroit, Ohio, and New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/7 "2010-06-23T18:01:31Z")
> [@Merejane](#): > > I just logged on to Straight Dope to ask about this – whether anyone else felt a tiny earthquake – but I am in New York City. Our Montreal office felt some wiggling too, so I’d expect New York might also. ETA: Rumour has it the epicentre was the Ontario/Quebec border. ETA: And no one is getting work done in our office now. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/8 "2010-06-23T18:05:58Z")
A little slow, but a big red box just showed up in Canada on the USGS site. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/9 "2010-06-23T18:08:09Z")
[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010xwa7.php](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010xwa7.php) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/10 "2010-06-23T18:12:39Z")
Aww crap, 5.5! The Canadian shield is Breached. Ottowa, prepare for a new stratovolcano! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/11 "2010-06-23T18:15:19Z")
Interesting. My dog was barking right around that time. I think that adds to the evidence that barking dogs cause earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/12 "2010-06-23T18:16:46Z")
Bingo, you have an earthquake =) 47°N, 75°W. I hate their format, the square looks like a 5ish? They cant come out and actually report it with a freaking number? Stupid map! ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/13 "2010-06-23T18:24:33Z")
Well I’m not very confident about the company’s emergency response 😃 They came through and sent us all out to our emergency meeting spots - but when we came back up there were a few people who had been in meeting rooms that stayed through the whole thing. My building is above a subway station so some people just assumed it was a particularly loud train. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/14 "2010-06-23T19:26:59Z")
Felt it here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At 1:45 by my watch. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/15 "2010-06-23T19:33:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Interesting. My dog was barking right around that time. I think that adds to the evidence that barking dogs cause earthquakes. The USGS site linked to states “Earthquakes of the size of todays event are uncommon east of the Rockies, but many have occurred since the arrival of European settlers three centuries ago.” So… it’s barking dogs and European settlers that cause earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/16 "2010-06-23T19:54:50Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > The USGS site linked to states “Earthquakes of the size of todays event are uncommon east of the Rockies, but many have occurred since the arrival of European settlers three centuries ago.” > > So… it’s barking dogs and European settlers that cause earthquakes. My dog is descended from European breeds. I think you’re on to something here. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/17 "2010-06-23T20:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > This earthquake occurred near the southern edge of the Western Quebec Seismic Zone. Earthquakes within this zone are mostly small. They tend to cluster in a wide area that is slightly elongated northwest-southeast. Historically, earthquakes in the Western Quebec Seismic Zone have caused damage roughly once a decade. Three or four smaller events each year are felt in the region but are generally too small to cause damage. The largest earthquakes known in this part of Canada occurred in 1935 (M6.1), about 250 km (150 miles) to the northwest of todays event, and in 1732 (M6.2), about 150 km (100 miles) to the east. The 1732 earthquake caused significant damage in Montreal. [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2010xwa7.php#summary](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2010xwa7.php#summary) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/18 "2010-06-23T20:50:30Z")
Now that summer has officially arrived in the northern hemisphere, one might think it was the winter ice finally breaking up north of the border. Pshaw. Just an earthquake. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/19 "2010-06-23T22:07:52Z")
Yep, definitely felt that one. At the time, I was about 30 kilometers due east of Ottawa and about 50 kilometers south of where the epicenter apparently was. Initially, it sounded like a freight train was going thru and then the shaking started leaving little doubt that it was an earthquake, the shaking gradually stopped but we could still hear the rumble for a short while. This was about the third earthquake I experienced in my life, but definitely the strongest, gives me a feel for what it might be like in a more earthquake prone location. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254/20 "2010-06-24T02:48:08Z")
For future reference, I like this site: [http://www.iris.edu/seismon/](http://www.iris.edu/seismon/) Click on the map and it will show you a zoom to the general area that you clicked on. Circle size is relative magnitude; color is age (red today, orange, yesterday, yellow, past two weeks, magenta, last 5 years; the magenta only shows location, not magnitude). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-tracking/544254.md?page=2)