A 4.4 magnitude earthquake in Quebec was “lightly felt” in New Brunswick Thursday morning. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of Mont-Joli at 11:21 a.m. Details on the earthquake can be found here. Shaking from the earthquake was felt and reported in Baie Comeau, Saguenay and Riviere-du-Loup in Quebec as well as in Campbellton and Bathurst in New Brunswick. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 25 km, which makes it a “shallow” earthquake by seismological standards. That part of Quebec is a active seismic zone known as the Charlevoix zone. It is the most seismically-active region of eastern Canada. Earthquake activity in the zone is largely driven by rift faults. Rift faults are a fracture of the outermost part of the Earth where tension works to pull the rift apart. In available history, the area has produced five earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger. The strongest is estimated to be a magnitude 7 earthquake that occurred on Feb. 5, 1663. Historical accounts don’t link any loss of life to that earthquake, but it did trigger massive landslides along the Saint-Maurice, Batiscan and St. Lawrence Rivers. Shaking attributed to that earthquake was felt as far away as Massachusetts Bay. The most recent magnitude 6 or higher earthquake in the area was on Feb. 28, 1925. It was a magnitude 6.2 with damage reported in Quebec City and Shawinigan. Damage was mostly reported as being to chimneys and unreinforced masonry buildings. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
