It also helps to know what to do if an earthquake strikes. Earthquake experts advise that if you're indoors when a quake occurs, take cover under a desk, table, bed or door-frame. If you're outdoors, stay away from anything that could collapse, such as houses or rocky outcrops. The science behind the shaking Scientists aren't quite sure why the eastern Arctic shakes so much. But Nunavut is situated well inside North America's tectonic plate.
Quakes here occur along internal faults, or weaknesses in the Earth's crust.
In many places, such faults contain little energy and don't pack much punch. Often they display no seismic activity at all. Northern Baffin Island appears to be quite active. One theory about Far North earthquakes is that they result from the retreat of the glaciers that once covered most of the region. As the enormous ice-sheets have melted away in recent centuries, the weight on the land has been removed and the ground is actually rising up.