An earthquake swarm in the village of McAdam, N.B., has caught the attention of Natural Resources Canada, which has dispatched a team to look into what’s happening underground.
McAdam’s high school is now home to a seismometer, which is bolted to the floor in the basement .
“These are very sensitive and they can pick up local noise as well. If there are trains going by, they’ll definitely register those,” said Natural Resources Canada seismologist Stephen Halchuk.
Four seismometers are being installed in McAdam. They’ll be able to tell scientists more about what has been happening.
“It’s sort of a comfort,” said McAdam resident Carl Roberts. “I hope they find out something that is comforting.”
For the last week, residents have been living through an earthquake swarm, which is defined as many earthquakes happening in a relatively short period of time within the same area.
The largest quake, which registered as a magnitude 3.3, happened on Monday night.
“You’re sitting in your easy chair, and the big ones might lift you up let’s say, half an inch or so off your chair,” Roberts said.
There are a number of theories as to why this is happening, but seismologists say they don’t know for sure. One theory suggests there might be a fault line underground that scientists previously did not know about.
“It looks like the events are occurring basically right under the town,” said Halchuk.
“What we’re hoping to get from this information is more accurate locations of where the earthquakes are occurring, to help us try and identify a likely candidate for where the fault is occurring.”
McAdam experienced an earthquake swarm in 2012, but Halchuk says this time the quakes are harsher and more intense.
“The ultimate goal is to make people safe from the eventuality of strong shaking occurring,” he said.
The seismometers will be in town for a couple of months, and seismologists will be watching and collecting the data from Ottawa.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown
