Volcanoes? Asteroids? Rain of frogs? Yes, this happens in Canada

Last month, scientists announced that we should expect a “deep sea eruption” off the coast of B.C. sometime in the next several weeks or years. This, after they detected 2,000 underwater earthquakes in one day. Eruption? Earthquakes? Scary! Not really. The rupture will likely be too deep, too far away, and too small to have much of an impact. Turns out, the earth—and the space above it—is frequently stirring up such headline-grabbing commotion. And some of this bonkersness even happens in Canada. It’s exciting for science reasons, but falsely alarming to the average person. (Earthquakes and asteroids and space junk, oh my!) Here are a few examples:

Volcanoes in Canada?!?

Sure, there are volcanoes in Canada. At least, there are volcanoes along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” in the western part of the country. B.C. and the Yukon have experienced at least 49 volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years, and there are five known volcanic areas here in the Great White North, including the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt of southwest B.C. and the Wrangell Volcanic Belt in the Yukon. Yet the magma’s not flowing like wine. Or like anything. Reality check: Canada’s most recent eruption was about 150 years ago; the last eruption that scientists considered “big” was more than 2,300 years ago.

Are Ontario cottages designed to protect against a tornado?

Asteroids are constantly hurtling towards earth!

It sounds like end-of-the-world stuff, but when asteroids hit, they often don’t do much of anything. For example, the WJI asteroid that sped towards Ontario in November of 2022 was considered tiny—one metre wide—and it broke into even smaller pieces as it passed through Earth’s atmosphere. Meh. The event was significant because it was only the sixth time in history that NASA had detected, and predicted the path of, a very small asteroid. The huge ones are much easier to track. Example: scientists are suggesting that an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building may hit Earth in 2182. Which…okay, that could be a big deal. But they have a long time to figure out how to deflect it. The folks in Armageddon only had 18 days.

Look into the past with images from the James Webb Space Telescope

So many earthquakes!

Turns out, earthquakes happen on the regular in Canada. They’re just not very big. This year, Earthquakes Canada recorded 13 earthquakes between January 1st and March 31st. But they were all classified as less than 5 on the Richter Scale, and according to Earthquakes Canada, “It is very unlikely that an earthquake of magnitude less than 5 could cause any damage.” (They’re usually not even felt.) Since 1663, the government has recorded less than 30 “important” quakes. The most recent earthquake classified as “Major” (a magnitude of more than 7) occurred in 2012, while Canada’s last 9-point earthquake—that’s enough to collapse structures and trigger landslides—happened way back in 1700. Bottom line? There’s a whole lotta’ shakin’ going on, it just doesn’t amount to anything that’s alarm-worthy. Canada is lucky.

Tsunamis! Every so often!

Yes, we can get tsunamis in Canada. But, since 1903, there are only 11 of them on the record books. The strongest tsunami ever recorded in Canada reached a wave height of about 38 metres. That’s not nothing. But the wave didn’t cause any deaths. That said, a tsunami that struck Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula in 1929 killed 27 people. That’s obviously not good, but it really doesn’t compare to the 2004, 50-metre wave in Indonesia that took 227,899 lives.

It’s raining…lizards and frogs? It’s raining lizards and frogs!

There haven’t been any plagues of locusts in Canada, but animals falling from the sky is, well, not common, exactly, but it happens more than you’d expect. Examples: In December 1857, live lizards rained on Montreal. Ants fell on Winnipeg in May 1895. A downpour of fish hit Moose Jaw in 1903, and frogs fell in Calgary in August 1921. In 1932, 52 geese plummeted to the ground in Elgin, Man. (The townspeople then ate them. Because free goose.) Why do these creatures fall from the sky? When it rained frogs on The X-Files (second season, episode 14), the locals blamed Satanism. But the real explanation is mundane: during storms, tornadoes can pick up large numbers of small animals, then eventually drop them, sometimes far away from where they picked them up. (At least, that’s usually how it works. The 52 unfortunate wild geese were hit by lightning.) So, if it starts raining amphibians or insects, don’t worry. If it starts raining sharks…well, then we’re all in trouble.

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