Update: Rare frost quakes in Quinte

By Katy Burley

BELLEVILLE – A rare weather phenomenon has swept the province, including right here in the Quinte region.

If you have heard a loud bang in this cold weather, it might have been a frost quake, which is caused by a sudden cracking motion in frozen soil and rock. As water seeps down into the ground, it freezes and expands, causing stress until it is relieved in a loud crack.

One Belleville resident who has heard the loud bangs from his home is city councillor Jodie Jenkins.

“The first one I heard was just a couple days after the ice storm,” said Jenkins. “I hear them from different angles. I’m hearing some of them from above, which I don’t know how that’s possible.”

Jenkins is one of many people who had never heard the term “frost quake” before this year. He said he only heard it after social media exploded following the first quake.

Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said frost quakes are very rare.

“I hadn’t really heard too many people talking about them until the events of around Christmas Eve, when we first started getting reports of loud booms and people started referring to them as these frost quakes,” said Coulson. “I haven’t really heard about something this noticeable happening in the past number of years in Southern Ontario.”

Frost quakes are most common in Wisconsin, Michigan, Southern Ontario, and some parts of New England, Coulson said.

“This particular year the ice storm we had in the lead-up to Christmas could’ve played a role, allowing moisture to seep into the ground, and then we got very, very cold right after that in the days leading up to Christmas. The sudden drop in temperature from just above freezing to just below freezing would have also been a major factor.”

Coulson said there is no need for citizens to worry if they hear a loud crack or feel a slight vibration in this freezing weather. Despite what many people may think, frost quakes aren’t very damaging, he said.

“The types of damage they can produce tend to be maybe a cracked window frame, maybe a loose object that falls to the ground due to the home briefly shaking. In general, the damage tends to be relatively minor.”

Councillor Jenkins says he wasn’t one of the people concerned about the strange sound and vibration from the quakes

“The first time I just thought, ‘What the heck is that?’ ” he said. “I had no clue and I didn’t think anything of it.”

Jenkins said he’s not sure if city hall has had any calls from concerned citizens. “As a councillor, I haven’t received any calls,” he said.