Extreme Cold Causes Noisy Earthquakes in Canada

You must be following the news about the terrible cold wave that has been battering North America. And no wonder, because even a polar vortex hit the region, freezing everything it encountered along the way. It turns out that such extreme weather conditions cause a variety of complications and, according to RT News, in some regions of Canada earthquakes have even been reported.

According to the publication, numerous residents of the outskirts of Toronto and Ontario were woken up early last Friday with the loud roar of explosions followed by earthquakes of low magnitude. This type of earthquake occurs when water and moisture present in the soil is frozen quickly, but luckily it does not pose much risk to the population.

Noisy explosion

To better understand how this all manifests itself, think about what happens when we forget a glass bottle filled with water in the freezer: During the freezing process, the liquid expands, breaking the container, right? In Canada's case, the expansion causes cracks in the ground, and the noise is so loud due to its proximity to the surface.

This phenomenon is incredibly rare, and Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist at the Canadian Ministry of Environment, revealed that this was the first time in 30 years that he had witnessed this type of earthquake. But with temperatures of -20 ° C like those in Toronto, earthquakes are becoming more recurring.