Earthquake rocks Port Perry
by Rik Davie/The Scugog Standard

Tables shook and glass ornaments fell off shelves in some downtown Port Perry shops as Scugog Township felt tremors from an earthquake that struck Central East Canada just before 2 p.m. on Wednesday (June 23).

Just as The Scugog Standard was preparing to go to press, tables began to shake and computer monitors rocked as the earth moved under staff members’ feet.

A quick check on the street confirmed initial guesses of a strong tremor.

Staff members at the Port Perry YMCA on Casimir St. evacuated their building because, as one employee said, “we thought the building was collapsing.”

Randy Lyons of UxPort Tools on Water St. said that merchandise “shook on the shelves.” There were varying opinions on the intensity quake in Port Perry.

“My whole desk was shaking and I could hear the water swaying and I thought, what was that!?” said Barb Hofbauer at the Port Perry Dial-a-Jug.

“I’ve felt lots of earthquakes before so it’s no big deal, nothing fell or anything,” said Dan Kang at the Port Stop ‘N Go.

“I’m a little freaked out,” said Laura Webster at Marigold Travel. “I’m worried about my china at home.”

Her colleague, Barbara Porter said, “It felt just like I was sitting in a rocking chair.”

The U.S. Geographical Survey confirmed shortly after the tremors hit that they were in the range of five on the Richter Scale. In comparison, the Haiti earthquake was measured around 7.5 to eight.

The Scugog Fire Department told The Standard that it appears there was no damage requiring a response. Chief Richard Miller said he received only a few calls, mostly looking for a cause for the tremors.

“We have a whole system in place for responding to this type of thing and fortunately it was not needed,” Chief Miller said. “We certainly felt it, though.”

Longtime Standard columnist Shirley Love called the newsroom to report that the “couch shook and moved” in her Caesarea home.

Phones rang at The Scugog Standard the rest of the afternoon as people tried to find out what had happened. As of press time, it appears that there was little damage from the unsettling tremor and there were no reports of aftershocks.

With files from Kyla Morgan