Why did some people feel last night’s quake while others didn’t?
Posted April 24, 2014 12:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LOWER MAINLAND (NEWS1130) – Many people around the Lower Mainland felt last night’s 6.6-magnitude shaker, while some of their neighbours did not.
News1130 is finding out some scientific reasons as to why.
If you live in a high rise, chances are you would have felt it more than say someone living in a house, explains SFU earthquake expert John Clague. “And that depends a little bit on the height of the building. It’s a tuning fork effect, a height effect.”
Clague notes it can also depend on the energy embedded in the ground motions. “Sometimes you get a resonance effect; so as the seismic waves pass through an urban area, you get buildings of certain height resonating.”
He tells us areas around the Fraser River — like Richmond — are built on sediment which is far less stable. “Kind of a little belt in there where people might feel it a little more strongly. Another area might be along our shoreline.”
That means you were also more likely to feel the quake if you live near a riverbed, or in a place near the coast.
No tsunami warning was issued after yesterday’s earthquake hit around 8:10 p.m.
