4.1 magnitude earthquake in western Quebec felt in Ottawa and Montreal

No damage was reported after a 4.1 magnitude earthquake rattled the Maniwaki area in western Quebec Sunday morning, according to Earthquakes Canada.

The epicentre was 75 kilometres northwest of Maniwaki. It happened at 8:02 a.m.

The earthquake was felt by some residents in Ottawa and Gatineau. One resident from Kanata told CTV News Ottawa they wondered whether it woke them up. Another resident reported snow falling off the roof of their home.

Earthquakes Canada received reports from people feeling it from Pembroke to Montreal, and as far south as Brockville. 

Stephen Crane, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada told CTV News an earthquake of this magnitude would be expected to be widely felt.

Crane says no damage would be expected from this earthquake, as it’s below the damage threshold.

“Usually, earthquakes cause damage at about a magnitude 5. So, it’s below the damage threshold that we would expect. But we would expect some strong shaking, especially for those that don’t usually experience earthquakes,” Crane said.

When asked about aftershocks, Crane said earthquakes of this size usually don’t have them.

“Aftershocks in general are about a magnitude lower than the main shocks. So, if there were aftershocks, they would be small,” Crane added.

“We wouldn’t expect many people, if any, to feel the aftershocks, if there are any.”

Today’s earthquake is not an indication that another one is coming soon, he says.

“This earthquake did occur in what we call the West Kazbek seismic zone. This is a zone of seismicity that extends quite some distance from the Ottawa Valley to Montreal to Temiskaming. So, it’s a very long-wide area,” he said.

“This area is known to produce significant earthquakes. So, although this earthquake itself wasn’t damaging, there are damaging earthquakes that have occurred in the seismic zone, and we would expect future earthquakes to occur that would be damaging in this area.”

While there is no way to predict when an earthquake is going to happen, Natural Resources Canada has developed the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system to give people a warning to “drop, cover and hold on.”

“(The system) will rapidly identify and detect earthquakes, then send an alert to users and the public that they might experience some strong ground shaking,” Crane said. “That will only give seconds of warning.”

The EEW system is concentrated in western British Columbia, eastern Ontario, and southern Quebec. It began operating in British Columbia in the spring of 2024 and will begin in Quebec and Ontario in early 2025.

To better understand the impact of earthquakes, Natural Resources Canada wants you to fill out the “Did you feel it?” report, which is available online.