A series of low-magnitude earthquakes have been recorded in southern New Brunswick over the past month.
A total of 10 earthquakes were recorded between Sept. 19 and Oct. 5 in an area south of Route 111, between Sussex and St. Martin’s.
The earthquakes were recorded by seismographs that Natural Resources Canada installed in the area in 2012.
Despite the shallow focus of the earthquakes, they were not reported to have been felt by people living in the area.
“In 2012, we added five seismographs to keep an eye on possible induced earthquakes form the fracking tests that were going on in the area,” says seismologist Dr. Maurice Lamontagne.
“So, with this network of six stations, we can detect earthquakes as small as 1 on the Richter Scale.”
Montagne says those seismographs will remain in the area for several years. He also says the earthquakes are natural, and aren’t related to human activity.
“What’s happening in the earth’s crust is that you have stresses that are acting, and in general, all faults are locked and won’t move for decades, hundreds of years, and then one day, when locally, this pressure exceeds the resistance of that fault, you get these earthquakes, but that’s what Mother Nature gives us,” explains Montagne.
This isn’t the first time earthquake swarms have been reported in New Brunswick. Earlier this year, people in the Village of McAdam felt several small earthquakes over the course of about a month.
However, Montagne says the swarms aren’t related, and people shouldn’t be alarmed.
“The earthquake swarm in McAdam and the earthquake swarm in southern New Brunswick are two totally different areas so the two aren’t linked in any way,” he says.
“These earthquake swarms are not something that can cause concern, people shouldn’t be concerned. However, it’s a reminder that earthquakes, moderate earthquakes, have occurred in the past in New Brunswick, so people can keep that in the back of their minds.”
Earthquakes Canada is urging Maritimers to check its website for information on what to do in the case of an earthquake.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Laura Brown
