Earthquakes in Canada

The 1979 Saint Elias earthquake affected southeastern Alaska at 12:27 AKST on 28 February. The thrust-faulting Mw 7.5 earthquake had an epicenter in the east of the Chugach Mountains. The earthquake occurred along an uncertain plate boundary where previous large earthquakes have occurred. Though the maximum recorded Modified Mercalli intensity was VII (Very strong), damage was minimal and there were no casualties due to the remoteness of the faulting. The shaking was widespread and the damage also extended across the border to parts of Yukon, Canada.

The 1870 Charlevoix earthquake occurred on 20 October in the Canadian province of Quebec. It had a moment magnitude of 6.6 Mw  and a Modified Mercalli intensity rating of X (Extreme). The town of Baie-Saint-Paul was seriously damaged by the event, with the loss of six lives. Effects from the earthquake were felt as far as Virginia and along the New England coast of the United States.

The 2013 Craig, Alaska earthquake (also known as the Queen Charlotte Fault earthquake) struck on January 5, at 12:58 am (UTC–7) near the city of Craig and Hydaburg, on Prince of Wales Island. The Mw 7.5 earthquake came nearly three months after an Mw  7.8 quake struck Haida Gwaii on October 28, in 2012. The quake prompted a regional tsunami warning to British Columbia and Alaska, but it was later cancelled. Due to the remote location of the quake, there were no reports of casualties or damage.

The 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake occurred just after 8:04 p.m. PDT on October 27. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of V (Moderate). The earthquake's epicentre was on Moresby Island of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). This was the second largest Canadian earthquake ever recorded by a seismometer, after the 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake, about 135 kilometres (84 mi) away. One person died due to a car crash related to the tsunami in Oahu, Hawaii.

The 1989 Ungava earthquake occurred at 09:24 local time (14:24 UTC) on 25 December to the north of Lac Bécard in a remote part of the Ungava Peninsula in northern Quebec. It had a magnitude of 6.3 on the surface-wave magnitude scale and 6.2–6.5 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum felt intensity of only IV (Light) on the Mercalli intensity scale, due to its remoteness from any inhabited areas. The mainshock was preceded by a magnitude 5.1 foreshock ten hours earlier. It was the first earthquake in eastern North America known to be associated with ground rupture.

The 1872 North Cascades earthquake occurred at 9:40 p.m. local time on December 14 in central Washington Territory (now Washington state). A maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) was assessed for several locations, though less intense shaking was observed at many other locations in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Some of these intermediate outlying areas reported V (Moderate) to VII (Very strong) shaking, but intensities as high as IV (Light) were reported as far distant as Idaho and Montana. Due to the remote location of the mainshock and a series of strong aftershocks, damage to structures was limited to a few cabins close to the areas of the highest intensity.

The 2010 Central Canada earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 5.0 in Central Canada on 23 June at about 13:41:41 EDT and lasted about 30 seconds. The epicentre was situated approximately 56 kilometres (35 mi) north of Ottawa, Ontario, in the municipality of Val-des-Bois, Quebec. Canada's capital, Ottawa, declared this earthquake as being its most powerful in 65 years.

A series of small volcanic earthquakes measuring less than 4.0 on the Richter magnitude scale took place in the sparsely populated Nazko area of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, from October 9, 2007, to June 12, 2008. They occurred just west of Nazko Cone, a small tree-covered cinder cone that last erupted about 7,200 years ago.

The 1944 Cornwall–Massena earthquake occurred on September 5 at 12:38:45 am EDT in Massena, New York. It registered 5.8 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). This area is part of the Saint Lawrence River Valley and the seismically active zone known as the Saint Lawrence rift system. The earthquake is the largest known in New York's recorded history and was felt over great distances.

The 1918 Vancouver Island earthquake occurred in British Columbia, Canada at 12:41 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 6. The earthquake was most likely of the strike-slip type, and was estimated to have a maximum perceived intensity of VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The epicenter was located east of the Stewardson inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, with damage occurring at the Estevan Point lighthouse on the Hesquiat Peninsula. The event registered 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale and was felt as far as northern Washington state and the interior of British Columbia.