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Moderate Morning Quake Jolts Eastern Canada, North of Maine

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USGS says that 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.
USGS says that 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.

A moderate earthquake struck eastern Canada this afternoon north of Maine. According to USGS, the jolt struck at 10:21 pm this morning from a depth of 10 km near the town of Mont-Joli in Quebec Province. Mont-Joli is roughly 150 miles northeast of Quebec City and about 125 miles north of St. Agatha, Maine. The earthquake was recorded as a magnitude 4.4 event and struck from a depth of 10 km; it is the strongest earthquake to strike in eastern Canada over the last 30 days.

In a post on Facebook, the City of Matane said no damage had been reported and added that its teams are trained and ready. Some buildings were temporarily evacuated to inspect for earthquake damage. There are no reports of injuries or significant damage at this time.

According to Earthquakes Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the USGS in the U.S., there are on average 450 earthquakes in eastern Canada each year, but only 4 ever exceed a magnitude 4.0 event.  The last earthquake of this magnitude in the same area struck in 1999 near the town of Sept-Îles.

USGS says that 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.