The Western Quebec Seismic Zone is a large seismically active area that surrounds the Ottawa Valley

Ottawa Valley

The Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...

 from Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 to Témiscaming, as well as the Laurentian Mountains

Laurentian mountains

The Laurentian Mountains are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of 1166 metres at Mont Raoul Blanchard, north east of Quebec City in the Reserve Faunique des Laurentides. The Gatineau, L'Assomption, Lièvre,...

 and Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...

. It is monitored by a local seismographic network which is synced to the Canadian National Seismic network. It can detect any earthquake rated over 2 on the Richter scale. Since a 2.5 is the lowest level earthquake that people can feel, the monitoring system detects any event of relevance. In addition to large earthquakes, the zone also has many minor events with 16 that ranked over a 4 on the Richter scale between 1980 and 2000. On average, there is one event every five days. Significant earthquakes associated with this seismic zone include a magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Montreal

1732 Montreal earthquake

The 1732 Montreal earthquake was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Quebec, Canada at 11:00 a.m. on September 16, 1732. The shaking associated with this earthquake shook the city of Montreal with significant damage, including destroyed chimneys, cracked walls and 300 damaged houses, as well as...

, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue area

1935 Timiskaming earthquake

The 1935 Timiskaming earthquake was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that occurred on November 1, 1935 in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec...

 and a magnitude 5.6 earthquake at the Ontario and New York border

1944 Cornwall-Massena earthquake

The 1944 Cornwall-Massena earthquake occurred on Tuesday, September 5, 1944, at roughly 12:40am EST in Massena, New York. It was registered as a magnitude 5.8 on the Richter scale and was felt for a great distance. This area is part of the Saint Lawrence River Valley and the seismically active...

.

1732 Montreal earthquake

Being the most distant recorded earthquake, there is not much information on it. What is known is that it was a very powerful quake, leaving much devastation but few deaths. It ranked an 5.8 on the Richter scale causing panic, cracking the ground, and damaging most buildings even destroying foundations on some. Accounts say that the quake could still be felt for several days after the fact indicating some subsequent smaller quakes.

1935 Timiskaming earthquake

At the epicenter of the 1935 Timiskaming earthquake, cracks in the gravel and sand could be seen. Almost all chimneys were damaged or destroyed, and some cracks developed in brick walls. These conditions persisted even 110 km away from the epicenter of the earthquake. The day after the earthquake, the Tee Lake, very near the epicenter, was clouded. It is suspected that sediment which was previously undisturbed was shaken up by the quake.These conditions earned it a 7 on the Modified Mercalli Scale

1944 Cornwall-Massena earthquake

Though it was only ranked a 5.8 on the Richter Scale, the Cornwall earthquake did considerable damage, also ranking a 7 on the Modified Mercalli Scale. Roughly 2000 chimneys were damaged or destroyed. The school suffered heavy damage with brick falling through the roof of their gym. Most two story buildings were also damaged.

2010 Central Canada earthquake

2010 Central Canada earthquake

The 2010 Central Canada earthquake was a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that occurred in Central Canada on June 23, 2010, at about 13:41:41 EDT and lasted about 30 seconds....

On June 23, 2010 at 1:41:42 EST a 5.0 magnitude earthquake 32 km north of Buckingham, Quebec at a depth of 18 km was felt throughout Western Quebec, Ottawa, and other parts of Ontario, and as far away as Ohio, Michigan, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Maryland in the U.S.