An earthquake which struck outside of Ottawa in eastern Canada this afternoon was felt in portions of the northeastern United States too. According to USGS, at 12:36 pm in the afternoon, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck Shawville, Canada, which is roughly 60 miles northeast of Ottawa. The earthquake epicenter had a depth of 10 km.

Thousands of reports were sent to Earthquakes Canada, the Canadian agency equivalent to the U.S.’s USGS, by Canadian citizens reporting they felt shaking.  Over two dozen people are reporting that they felt the earthquake as a level 1 intensity, and hundreds more felt it as level 2 or 3. According to Earthquakes Canada, reports as  far away as Toronto were submitted. People also reported feeling the earthquake to USGS in the U.S. too, with over 200 reports received as of press time.

The last significant earthquake to strike the Ottawa metro region was in 2010. At that time, a  quake hit the Val-des-Bois area north of the capital. It lasted about 30 seconds and was measured as a magnitude 5.0 event.

According to USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 , more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.