Ottawa — A "moderate" earthquake shook eastern Ontario and western Quebec Friday night, with tremors shaking the ground under the shadow of the Peace Tower and reports of the quake being felt as far away as Montreal.
Sylvia Hayek, seismologist for Natural Resources Canada, said the earthquake, which struck around 8:39 p.m. EST, measured a 4.5-magnitude, but wasn't strong enough to cause major damage.
"It's a moderate earthquake, so we wouldn't expect any damage," Ms. Hayek said late Friday.
The quake was centred north of Thurso, Que., about 45 kilometres east-northeast of Ottawa, said John Adams, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.
Ottawa police said they received about 150 to 200 calls from residents who wondered what happened, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
"(People were) just wondering what the heck was going on," said Ottawa police Sgt. Denis Cleroux.
Across the street from Parliament Hill, office workers staying late Friday were jolted upright by rumbling floors that for several seconds seemed like they had been stirred to life.
Workers in the neighbourhood office towers had become accustomed to intermittent dynamite blasts because of recent construction projects in the area. Some initially mistook the quake for yet another man-made explosion.
Montreal radio station CJAD reported receiving calls from several residents who said they felt a tremor.
The station reported it was felt from Mont Tremblant, north of Montreal, to Hawksbury, Ont.
The area had its fair share of seismic activity, Ms. Hayek said.
"It is a fairly active area," she said. "This is a little bit closer to the Ottawa-Montreal area than a lot of those earthquakes were in the past."
There are faults all along eastern Ontario, Ms. Hayek added.
"We're not talking like the San Andreas or anything."
Mr. Adams said it was a size of earthquake that happens in the area north of Montreal-Ottawa "about once every five or 10 years."
"This is a long way below the level at which one would expect major damage in buildings," he said.
