100 McAdam residents show up for earthquake meeting

Two earthquake experts appeared at a public meeting in McAdam on Monday night to help explain the seismic activity that the small southwestern village has experienced in recent months.

More than 100 McAdam residents showed up to ask questions and hear from scientists Ken Burke and Karl Butler about the swarm of earthquakes in the region.

The three seismic activity monitors have recorded at least 20 bumps in the past two months.

Residents started noticing the seismic activity in March. The largest earthquake has been a magnitude of 2.4, while the others have been between the magnitudes of 2.0 and 1.4.

Burke, a geophysicist,told the crowd the seismic activity is relatively close to the surface in McAdam.

"What weve found is the swarm appears to be concentrated directly under the village here, particularly under the north end of the village," Burke said.

"The other important thing is the earthquakes are very shallow, less than a kilometre in depth that means they are close to the surface."

The residents heard that with so many earthquakes happening close to the surface it means they probably aren't from a major fault.

There is also nothing to say when the earthquake activity is going to stop, however.

Butler, a geophysicist and professor of earth sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, said it is unlikely the village would be hit with a large earthquake.

"Probabilities of a big problem are extremely low, but with earthquakes you can never say never," he said.

The scientists are continuing to measure any tremors.

They want to add a fourth monitoring station near McAdam in the hope that more data will start to show a pattern, which will give them a better idea of the cause.