Until 4:33PM on November 18, 1929 the day was like any other. Business was happening as usual in Downtown Halifax, men were underground in the province’s coal mines and factory workers were busy as usual. Then everything stopped when the ground began to shake.
The afternoon earthquake was felt from the Dominion of Newfoundland to parts of Quebec and the Eastern seaboard of the United States. It was so strong, according to The Chronicle Herald of the day, the seismograph at Dalhousie broke during the strongest part of the quake but continued to record the disturbance for the next two and half hours.
Cape Breton saw some of the most severe damage in Nova Scotia. In Sydney chimneys crashed on Charlotte Street and the goods on store shelves quickly made their way to the floor. Barns reportedly collapsed on the city’s outskirt.
The earthquake brought back memories of the Halifax Explosion only 12 years prior. After the tremor, men and women filled the streets of Halifax’s business district and numerous people reportedly fainted.
The Chronicle Herald reported that Frank Lowe of 198 Young Street was sitting in front of the stove with his feet in the oven at the time of the quake and the stove jumped an inch when the shaking began.
In today’s terms, the earthquake measured a 7.2 magnitude on the Richter scale. There were several aftershocks that were felt in Nova Scotia, one measuring 6.0 magnitude.
A tsunami wave reported to be eight feet struck Cape Breton and came into Sydney and Glace Bay Harbours. It also hit communities such as Louisbourg and Main-A-Dieu. Wharfs and fish processing plants were damaged and nearby roads flooded.
The Dominion of Newfoundland suffered the most destruction. Twenty-seven drowned as a result of the large tsunami that crashed ashore in the Burin-Peninsula. An additional death would be added in 1933 after the death of young girl that never recovered from her injuries.
The tsunami was reported as far south as South Carolina and on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal.
The earthquake’s death toll is the largest recorded in Canadian earthquake history.