Earthquakes and Tornados - Ontario has a bad day

A Quebec town near the epicentre of a 5.0-magnitude earthquake is calling for emergency help after tremors felled the steeple of its church and damaged several other buildings, including the town hall.

Wednesday’s quake badly damaged Gracefield’s church and a local restaurant, Quebec provincial police reported.

It also caused significant damage to a community centre and a hotel, Mayor Réal Rochon told RDI, the television news network for Société Radio-Canada, the French arm of the CBC. Police reported that no one was hurt.

Buildings were evacuated throughout downtown Ottawa. (Submitted by Caleigh Windolf)

The temblor hit at 1:41 p.m. ET south of Echo Lake, Que., 60 kilometres north of Ottawa near the Ontario border, and was felt across southern and eastern Ontario and western Quebec, as well as in some U.S. states, including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Jersey and New York.Source

First came the pounding rain. Then, the low rumble and fierce, funnel-shaped cloud.

In a matter of minutes, the town of Midland, Ont. became the centre of a wicked storm as a suspected tornado ripped through the small community at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The storm battered the south end of Midland, said Environment Canada’s Geoff Coulson, the brunt of it walloping Smith’s Camp Trailer Park which sits in the heart of the town. The storm overturned trailers and damaged much of the property, staff said.

Only minor injuries were reported and it’s unclear how many were hurt.

Mayor Jim Downer declared a state of emergency in his town of about 16,300, which sits on the southeast edge of Georgian Bay.

“The winds were extensive and they created a great deal of damage,” he said in an interview with CP24.

A woman who works in the store at Smith’s Camp, who would only identify herself as Karen, said trailers from the seasonal area of the park had been bashed around and some may even be missing.

She heard the storm through the rain as it came down at about 6 p.m.

“I heard this low rumble and I thought, ‘That’s not like thunder at all,’ ” she said. “Then, the next thing I knew, I heard the sirens and the cops, the fire trucks and ambulances coming in.”

People walk past destroyed trailer homes in the Smith’s Trailer Park in Midland,
Ontario June 23, 2010. CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS.

It was the second rumble area residents noticed on Wednesday, having felt the tremors from the eastern Ontario earthquake in the afternoon.
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