An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 3.7 on a scale of 9 was felt Monday at 9:23 p.m. north of Montreal, Earthquakes Canada said.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake’s epicenter was located five kilometers northeast of the town of Bois-des-Filion, in the Lanaudière region, or 26 kilometers from Montreal and less than 10 kilometers from Laval.
Readers have told To have to having felt tremors in Blainville, Boucherville, Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, in Montreal East and in the Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough.
Tremors were also reported as far as Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts in the northwest, Joliette in the northeast, Beloeil in the southeast and Oka in the southwest.
Gabrielle Pilon, who lives in Lorraine, just a few kilometers from Bois-des-Filion, felt “a very intense and short vibration”.
In Terrebonne, Marie-Anne “believed that it was a plane that had crashed very close to the house. It was intense! “.
“In Ahuntsic, we felt like an expansive wave and then an explosion. The windows shook. We thought it was some kind of gas explosion,” Violetta wrote on Twitter.
Julie Carpentier, who lives in the Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough, says she felt “like in an airplane going through heavy turbulence. I was so scared, my heart went down in my heels! »
“Airplane crash”, “explosion”, “truck passing” or “car hitting a building” are comparisons that often come up in testimonies.
More fear than harm: no damage has been reported by the people with whom The duty spoke on Monday evening.
According to the federal agency, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers, which classifies it in the category of superficial earthquakes.
Wave of messages on Twitter
Thanks to the large number of testimonials published on the social network, Twitter quickly became a source of information for Quebecers who sought to confirm that such an event had indeed occurred.
“I texted friends [qui habitent à] Terrebonne, they thought of a bomb, and honestly the idea also came to my mind, but I told myself that an earthquake was more plausible! “says Gabrielle Pilon. After writing to those around him, his reflex was to “take a look on Twitter to see if others were asking the question, or if an official notice had been issued”.
This is not the first time an earthquake has occurred in the region. In May 2021, a magnitude 3.9 earthquake was felt near Epiphany.
The last quake to reach a magnitude of 5 in the region dates back to June 23, 2010, according to Earthquakes Canada.