McAdam hit by small earthquake

The McAdam area of southwestern New Brunswick was hit by a small earthquake on Saturday morning, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Residents say there were several other booms as recently as Monday morning, which officials say could have been aftershocks.

The federal agency reportsa 2.4 magnitude earthquake happened at 1:40 a.m. on Saturday.

The small earthquake was centred about two kilometres southwest of the village and it was felt by people in the area.

Norman Dewitt said the quake hit not far from his farm and the noise woke him up.

"It was just a roar and a bang, you know. I thought there was wood falling in the woodshed," he said.

According to the federal agency, it is "very unlikely" that an earthquake of magnitude less than five could cause any damage.

Pauline Astorino, however, said there was some damage at her house after the earthquake.

"A big boom and then, I heard glass breaking. And it turned out that my light fixture in my bathroom fell at the same time as the boom," Astorino said.

"And all the neighbours were up. And I know the RCMP were out around. And we had several or more of these booms at different strengths."

Not unusual

New Brunswick gets a dozen or more similar quakes a year, according to Karl Butler, a geophysicist and professor of earth sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

"It's not really unusual. Earthquakes of that size. We certainly get them fairly frequently in New Brunswick," he said.

"I think this one's maybe more unusual in that it was very close, it appears to have been quite close to McAdam, to a populated area. Often events of that size if they occur in a remote area of the province, wouldn't even be felt."

Butler has seen a wave form from the event from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.He's also hoping to get a look at data from Natural Resources Canada.

The subsequent booms could have been aftershocks,Butler said.

They could also be cryoseisms common at this time of year when frozen ground cracks and gives way, he said.