Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Work in progress - 1 - The Great Toronto Earthquake 2025

Ah this is painful! I'm going to do it piece by piece!


I am writing this, to be filed away, until that fateful day.


You just experienced an earthquake, and you are stunned. You've never experienced anything like this in Toronto, and nobody warned you. What the heck just happened? It started with a loud buzz and rumble, like a big truck rolling by, and then the house started to shake, and everything started crashing. You just awoke in the middle of the night, and all the power is off. Going to be tricky, since this is January, and it's 20 below outside.

All you hear are car and house alarms, wasting their batteries. Where's some light? Luckily, you have been somewhat paranoid, and have a flashlight in your night-table. "I'm glad I listened to that crazy earthquake guy."

The light goes on. Shit! I'm glad I didn't have that trophy case near my bed! Your memorial World Cup solid brass wuwuzela has punched a big hole through your computer keyboard!


104 comments:

Chris K said...

Seems it came 15 years early and was slightly smaller than predicted :)

Anonymous said...

I just felt earthquake in Scarborough!

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you're prescient or what, but I just experienced something that felt an awful lot like a minor earthquake - house sort of undulated, crystal in the cabinet tinkled, hanging fixtures started to sway, and there was no heavy equipment driving by.

Happened less than 5 minutes before this posting, in the Bathurst/St. Clair area.

Anonymous said...

did you just feel that minor earthquake in Toronto at 1:45 PM??

Chris Schack said...

Felt it in Mississauga/Oakville too, but I think it was more like 1:42

Anonymous said...

Any idea where the epicentre was?

Anonymous said...

i just felt an earthquake in Ajax...

Anonymous said...

Happened downtown and in York Mills too.

Anonymous said...

Happened near Ottawa.

Anonymous said...

I felt it here in Georgetown at about 1:46 pm today

Anonymous said...

Wow so I'm not alone felt it in Etobicoke, shook my chair and the computer screen, couldn't tell what was going on until I realized that it was an earthquake.

Anonymous said...

yes I did and I'm on the 17th floor and my cat felt it too as he crouched to the groud.....

MH said...

Felt the earthquack at 1:44 pm. Eglinton and dufferin area.

Anonymous said...

Yes from Mississauga - what a co-incidence!

Anonymous said...

I thought it was some heavy machinery around here, East York On. lasted around 1 1/2 minutes I guess.

Unknown said...

We felt it in Ottawa - slow rumble, then a good roar.

Anonymous said...

Yep, here too. 7th floor at Bay/Bloor around 1:45pm.

Anonymous said...

Any links to a site where i can see where it originated?

ted said...

400/401 also experienced a small tremor
an actual earthquake is much more severe than what you all have experienced

Anonymous said...

felt in markham

Anonymous said...

I felt it too, in North York! The TV was shaking, the china cabinet was shaking, the computer was shaking. Fortunately, my baby slept through it!

Anonymous said...

I felt it in North York at about 1:42pm. I felt as though my chair is being pushed towards the computer screen. Took around 5 secs to realize its an earth quake. But cud believe only after searching the web!

Anonymous said...

King and Bathurts Felt it

Anonymous said...

I just felt a minor quake in scarborough. chair was vibrating.

Anonymous said...

Felt nothing in downtown Hamilton

Anonymous said...

i just felt like the floor moving at work and thought that i was feeling dizzy... Second after, everyone stood up to find out if we all felt the same reaction... it was a minor hearthquake!!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the ground shook here by Pearson Airport.

Anonymous said...

We felt it in the Beaches. Lasted for almost a minute it seemed.
Nothing too scary:)

Anonymous said...

I'm in Scarborough and felt it too. Crazy! I've never felt that before. Some pictures even fell off the wall!

Anonymous said...

I felt in north Richmond Hill around 1:45. I was having lunch at home, heard house was making minor cracking sound...

Unknown said...

It was a minor earth quake.My chair was moving but it was over a minute

Anonymous said...

Felt it in Ancaster/West Hamilton,

Anonymous said...

Felt it here in Newmarket too. Seemed fairly small, but it was a bit startling.

Here's a story:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/earthquake-shakes-ontario-us-states/article1614941/

Hemingway said...

I am on the 27th floor in East York. The quake was without doubt the strongest I have ever felt. Maybe it was amplified by the building?? Everything was shaking and the water in my mug was sloshing all around. Scary stuff...

Ipicenters in the past have usually been in Quebec but we'll just have to see.

Anonymous said...

5.5!!!

Harbles said...

update: 1:45 pm magnitude 5.7, epicenter at Buckingham, QC

Anonymous said...

I felt it in etobicoke had a late night thought I was hungover when my bed felt posessed LOL!

Anonymous said...

Here in Caledon, HWY 9 Felt it too!

Anonymous said...

East York here, that was freaky.

I was sitting in my basement office and my chair and desk started shaking, I thought "Great, my house is gonna fall on me".

Went outside and all my neighbours were outside with everyone freaking out (mildly).

Anonymous said...

Felt it across the Lake here in Beachwood, Ohio.

Unknown said...

Yes, an Earthquake in Toronto. It happened at 1:50pm. I was sitting on my desk in the basement, and suddenly felt the whole room shifted eastward for about 10 - 20 cm.

Anonymous said...

We had it here in North Bay as well. Lasted about 15 seconds and shook the whole building!

Unknown said...

Yes, I did feel it too in ottawa.

Anonymous said...

felt it in the swigitty! all the way to kingston!

Anonymous said...

We felt it in Sudbury as well!!

Alice said...

My daughter just called from Ottawa -- whole house was shaking. She said it was felt from Montreal to Windsor.

I'm in Toronto (Jane-St. Clair) and felt it very mildly.

Anonymous said...

Felt it in London, ON too...

Anonymous said...

G20 HMMM...

Anonymous said...

I hear that they felt it in Montreal and North Bay as well...

Mr. J said...

Yes.. I felt earthquake in etobico..when i was in my phone..all my table was moved about a 1/4 inch or soo...

Anonymous said...

Felt it for over a minute at Weston Rd & Sheppard a relaxing rumble

Anonymous said...

A friend felt it down in MIchigan

Ivory said...

Felt it up here in Richmond Hill

Anonymous said...

we were in our classroom at school and some of the students felt the floor vibrate. This was in Thornhill, Ontario.

Unknown said...

Just felt a tremor in Milton, whole building was shaking

Anonymous said...

Wonder if it shook down the G20 fences...? ;)

Anonymous said...

felt it in montreal as well!!

Anonymous said...

in Windsor as well

Unknown said...

felt the tremor here in milton approx. 1:45 pm the whole building shook

Anonymous said...

I felt it in Sault Ste. Marie....my chair jiggled a bit...twice.

Anonymous said...

felt here in Downtown Toronto front street, and my wife in oshawa around 1:43 pm today.

Anonymous said...

I felt it near St. Catharines. Very faint, I thought I was just dizzy for a couple seconds. Glad to know it was an earthquake and nothing is wrong with me haha!!

Anonymous said...

Yonge & Sheppard here...desks, monitors and windows were def shaking. They are saying mid-fours on the scale.

Dan Martineau said...

It hit quite hard in Gatineau also.

Anonymous said...

Niagara Falls were shaking!!

Anonymous said...

Nothing in Beamsville Ontario

Anonymous said...

HAHA wow what a coincidence, I search more info on the Earthquake, and I find a random article with people trying to search for the same thing. This author's getting quite a bit of views because of this coincidence!

Anonymous said...

Niagara Falls is a wave pool now!!!

Anonymous said...

Felt it in waterloo, sitting with my friend in school, while exams were happening! the school shook, thought it was construction work or something, almost fell off my stool.

Anonymous said...

I'm near Niagara River in New York State and felt the slight tremors about 1:45 approximately. Heard the quake was 5.5 but still not sure where epicenter was.

Rterry said...

I felt it in London Ontario

Anonymous said...

From the USGS:

http://bit.ly/dC7558

5.5 Magnitude.

Anonymous said...

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010xwa7.php

Anonymous said...

Sorry everyone....
I shouldn't have had the baked beans for lunch.

Ola Silvera said...

What the heck? I googled to see who else is talking about it and saw your post from this morning.

I love serendipity and coincidence!

Stefan said...

Especially weird when the original post was from 3 hours BEFORE the earthquake?!? Psychic much Harold?

Anonymous said...

around 1:39 pm here in Ancaster.

Anonymous said...

I live in Ottawa and I just felt it 15 min ago.

Anonymous said...

I'm in Lansing, MI and I felt the earthquake.

Anonymous said...

OMG felt it in Brampton sooo crazy

Gorgeous Girls said...

we felt it in hawaii

Anonymous said...

Felt it here in east york, only half the staff in my office seemed to notice. It felt like someone was pushing and pulling my chair back and forth. I turned to see who was moving it and found no one. Eerie feeling. Very cool.

When was the last EQ in Toronto?

Anonymous said...

now THAT was freaky.

Anonymous said...

I live in the Beaches, Toronto, and we just had a minor earthquake here that was strong enough to shake all of my furniture, knock over a shelf and break the glasses on it.

I have lately been feeling minor tremors late at night while reading that rocked my bed gently back and forth but were not strong enough to make any noise or damage anything.

Anonymous said...

Downtown Milton, Ont felt the earthquake at 1:42PM. It shook my commercial building for at least 10 seconds.

Ola Silvera said...

Makes me REALLY want to listen to the "crazy earthquake guy" now! :O)

Anonymous said...

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010xwa7.php

Unknown said...

The earthquake was centered in Northern NY state and measured 5.5,

Anonymous said...

at 13:49:42 I wrote at another blogging site reporting an earthquake within 2 minutes before that and somebody from GTA reports that his building was evacuated in the morning due to fire alarm ... so may be seismic activity is on since morning .. I felt it around 13:48 ... my computer desk is one of those cheap self assemble type mostly made with tubes and computer tower and on tower a bag of cashew nuts ... they make a fine seismometer. I immediately sensed the quake and actually saw it with my s-meter

Anonymous said...

That's what happens when you try to fool Mother Nature. It's that Fake Lake I tell you.... honest

Anonymous said...

Must have slept through it :(

Anonymous said...

Hey Harold, have you got those Lotto Max numbers for us?

Anonymous said...

I was laying down and heard the sliding closet doors shaking... I turned over and tried to go back to sleep, but the DJ on the radio said there was just an earthquake. Wow! An earthquake in Toronto, what next?

Anonymous said...

If you felt it, you can report it here:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/2010xwa7/us/index.html

Alice said...

If you felt it, you can report it here:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/2010xwa7/us/index.html

Anonymous said...

Felt it down south here in Leamington too!

Anonymous said...

Alright, alright....fun's over.
Go change your underwear and get back to work!!

Anonymous said...

Felt it in Oakville!

Shriya Shah-Klorfine said...

I felt an earthquake in Eglinton & Dufferin area at 1:50-1:55 pm, I wasn't sure so went out side of the house and found out most of the people were out and asking about....do any one know what was the Magnitude?

Anonymous said...

They're evacuating downtown Toronto buildings (an hour after the event)! Fears of structural damage.

Harold Asmis said...

Wow evacuating in Toronto! That's the type of hogwash I'm writing about. They are going to over-react because they know nothing! Next, the nuclear plants will be shutting down.

Anonymous said...

I Felt if to but it was miner my chair started shaking slighty to the left and right and got scared and ran outside.

Anonymous said...

happened in scarborough kennedy and the 401

Anonymous said...

Felt it in Stratfordville, Ontario and also family members felt it in Ingersoll, Ontario and Woodstock, Ontario.

Be safe my fellow Canuks...