All the way from Ottawa to Barrie and Muskoka, the ground was shaking this morning.
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake 18-kilometres northeast of Shawville, QC was felt at about 9:43 a.m. It was felt in nearby Ottawa and shook homes and offices as far away as Barrie, Orillia, Toronto and even parts of Northern Ontario and Upstate New York. A magnitude 4.1 aftershock followed about 10 minutes later.
No serious damage was reported, but right near the epicentre, Arnprior Mayor David Reid says it rattled nerves.
“It did shake pretty good for about 15 to 20 seconds. And having said that, I’ve been in this area quite a while and felt quite a few earthquakes,” he says. “This to me was probably the strongest I’ve felt.”
Seismologists say this strength of earthquake happens usually once in 20 years in Ontario. But a quake measuring magnitude 5.0 was felt here in June 2010. Earthquake Canada has tracked 13 earthquakes and aftershocks in the last 30 days in Quebec near Ottawa. Most were not felt and were under magnitude 3.0. The Shawville quake and a magnitude 2.6 quake seven kilometres from L’Annonciation, QC were the only ones felt.
Earthquake Canada also tracked a magnitude 2.3 earthquake 20 kilometres south of Parry Sound on May 23, 2013.
In 2010, the Town of Gracefield, QC, which was close to that quake’s epicentre, declared a state of emergency after several buildings were damaged.
Although quakes are rare in this region, it is an active seismic zone.