Residents around the area of Tee Lake near Temiscaming, Quebec, reported a loud rumbling in the early morning hours on Saturday, May 2.
Jeff Peltier was awakened by shaking in the cottage he was in. “It was kind of like a loud noise, and it came to sudden stop. Boom.”
“This rumble started, and just got louder and louder,” said resident Rob Joly.
CTV reported on the incident, noting that some who heard the mystery boom believed that it was an explosion, stirring worries that the nearby Tembec Mill had exploded. However, no accidents or other damage were reported at that location.
Seismologists with Natural Resources Canada says no seismic activity was recorded at the time of the apparent “quake.” NRC also said that the sound may have come from the air, as with a jet passing overhead.
While a meteorological explanation was also suggested, photographs taken the following morning by Rob Joly showed clear skies over , and weather conditions that weren’t consistent with thunder or storm activity.
Nighttime temperatures in Ontario around Temiscaming dropped as low as 34° F on the morning of May 2, 2015, coinciding with the reports of the quake.
Despite initial reports that there had been no seismic activity reported, the USGS later included this page on their website, indicating a magnitude 2.7 quake that had occurred in Ontario, 28 kilometers northeast of Temiscaming that same morning, shortly after 4:30 AM local time.
This data suggests that a small earthquake had, in fact, occurred at the time residents felt their homes shaking on the morning in question.
Special thanks to Adam Petryk for reporting this incident to us.