Expert: St-Henri triplex collapse  

The exterior wall of a triplex in St-Henri collapsed onto an adjacent construction site Monday afternoon, exposing the inside of the apartments much like a dollhouse. (Montreal Gazette)

Here is an expert from McGill University who can comment on this topic.  

Daniele Malomo, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering 

"Old buildings in Eastern Canada have been built using non-engineered traditional construction techniques and do not feature the necessary structural details to withstand relevant vibrations. The recent partial collapse of a St. Henri triplex confirms that excessive and repeated vibrations due to nearby work sites can act as a stressor. A small earthquake centred in Montreal could cause analogous but much more widespread damage to the older parts of the city.” 

Professor Malomo is the director of struct-lab, a cutting-edge structural engineering research lab at McGill University that works on earthquake engineering, old structures, climate change-adapted design, digital and experimental simulations. His areas of expertise include structural and earthquake engineering, old structures and bridges, and forensic and collapse analysis. 

daniele.malomo [at] mcgill.ca (English, Italian)