Tremors felt in Montreal, Toronto


The cause of the tremors remains unknown, however people working in downtown Toronto, at 207 Queen’s Quay West in the Harbourfront district felt their desks gently shaking.

The tremors lasted for less than approximately 1 minute.

Reports are calling the tremors a quake, possibly in the mid-4’s around 5.5 on the Richter scale.

The tremors will felt in large area including Barrie, Ottawa, Buffalo, Glenn Falls, Philadelphia, New York, Ohio and parts of Quebec.

The USGS is reporting that the epicentre is 50 km north-northeast of Ottawa.

For more on this story:

CBC coverage

CTV coverage

United States Geological Survey Latest Earthquakes

Full Report on the quake from the USGS

31 comments

  1. John Smith

    I felt it. Of 3 earthquakes I’ve lived through in Ottawa this was the strongest that I remember. People on the street afterwards were a bit freaked out.
    I’m curious what magnitude this one was.

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  3. sherry Wallace

    wow – felt it out here in Brockville area – house shook – desk contents rattled.

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  7. psm

    wow, holy conflicting data batman!!! I also read that it was a 15 second tremor and that it was 5.7 on the scale. Vastly different from this article…

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  8. maureen

    We felt the quake in Pembroke ON and it was quite a shake so much so that it sent most of my neighbors onto the street. Pembroke is about 80km west of Ottawa.

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  10. Steve

    I was sitting in my recliner in the basement on my computer and the chair started swaying back and forth. I thought the dog was scratching himself while he was leaning against my chair but when I looked he was just sitting staring at me. My mug on my desk started shaking and my chair started swaying stronger and thats when I yelled to the wife that we were having an earthquake and she yelled back that the dishes in the kitchen were moving around and everything was shaking upstairs. It lasted about 30 seconds and I started to get light headed and dizzy at around the 25 second mark. I’m glad I was sitting down.

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    • Wendy

      Where do you live Steve? Sounds worse than other areas. I live outside Montreal and it shook for about 15-20 seconds I’d say. It felt like a train going overhead. My computer screen started shaking. I phoned home and they felt it here too, the house was creaking and moving. Well it brings us all together anyway!

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    • Anne Sudbury

      Where do you live Steve. I’d like to know where all of this shaking took place. I didn’t feel a thing here but some nearby did, but very minor compared to where you live. All I heard was a thunder type sound but now I realize that this sound was in actuality different than normal thunder. Must have been scary for you indeed Steve.

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  13. CFK

    Yes, we felt it in St.Catharines, Ontario too. The walls and even the floor moved quite a bit. It was really a weird feeling,.

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  14. chzplz

    I was on the phone with Montreal when it hit Ottawa. We got it first, then about a minute later it hit Montreal.

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  16. Linx

    I felt this in middle of Toronto. It looked like I had a massage chair for 20 to 30 seconds! The radio announced that the American geologic agency measured a 5.0 magnitude!

    Linx

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  20. judy

    Here in Brantford,On,my chair was sliding it felt like someone was pushing me,just like a few years back same thing

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  23. Ron B

    At 1:43:45 EDT in Stouffville, Ontario, in our house the fireplace started rattling, and the living room floor started to vibrate horizontally. No damage. No noise, except for the garbage truck in front of the house.

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  26. Sean

    Yep, felt it around London (20min. East outside of London actually). Same thing happened, was sitting on my computer chair and starting moving. After the shaking stopped the house still creaked for a bit (very old house). Crazy stuff!

    I’ve seen it reported as both a 5.5 and 5.0 magnitude. I’ve seen 5.5 the most though.

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