Earthquake Devastation

Well, the tallies are starting to come in on the damage caused by the earthquake that rocked the Ottawa-Montreal corridor last week. Thankfully there were no injuries. For most people in the area, the magnitude 5.0 earthquake was the largest they had ever felt. The damage was extensive.

The photo below was sent to me by a friend who witnessed the damage first-hand.

At first glance you may not want to believe it. But trust me, this is a real photo.

In all seriousness, the epicentre was 53 kilometres (33 miles) north of Ottawa. It was felt as far away as New York and Ohio. Not having experienced and earthquake before, many people in downtown Ottawa evacuated office buildings. 

According to the FEMA website, "Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave."

Natural Resources Canada indicates that the largest earthquake to ever hit Montreal took place in 1732 and was estimated at 5.8 on the Richter Scale. I also found this nifty map and list on their website, providing the locations of the ten largest earthquakes to hit Canada.

Date	Magnitude	Location
1/26/1700	9	Cascadia subduction zone, BC.
8/22/1949	8.1	Queen Charlotte Islands, BC.
6/24/1970	7.4	Queen Charlotte Islands, BC.
11/20/1933	7.3	Baffin Bay, Northwest Territories.
6/23/1946	7.3	Vancouver Island, BC.
11/18/1929	7.2	Grand Banks south of Newfoundland.
5/26/1929	7	Queen Charlotte Islands, BC.
2/05/1663	7	Charlevoix, Quebec.
12/23/1985	6.9	Nahanni region, NWT.
12/6/1918	6.9	Vancouver Island, BC.