Hundreds of people have used the USGS “Did you feel it?” reporting tool on their website to report shaking from a mild earthquake that rocked Montreal, Canada during the overnight hours last night. Earthquakes Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the USGS, reports no damage occurred from the earthquake.
According to USGS, the magnitude 3.0 struck at 9:23 pm last night just north of downtown Montreal in Canada’s Quebec Province. The earthquake’s epicenter had a depth of 9.8 km. More than 620 reported to USGS they felt shaking throughout the Montreal, Longueuil , and Laval areas, which make up the second largest populated area of Canada. No shaking was reported by Americans south of the U.S./Canada border.
Montreal isn’t a seismically active region, but a lethal earthquake has struck here in the past. In 1732, an estimated magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the city from an epicenter located in New France on 11 am on September 16. The shaking associated with this earthquake shook the city of Montreal with significant damage, including destroyed chimneys, cracked walls and 300 damaged houses. An additional 185 buildings were destroyed by fires that burned through the city after the earthquake. In all, an estimated 30% of homes were damaged in Montreal from this significant earthquake event. A girl was reported killed by the quake too, crushed in falling debris.
