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Note: A GSC Current Research paper was published on this earthquake Abstract.
The Nov 5, 1997 magnitude 5.2 earthquake centred a few kilometres West of Cap-Rouge, Quebec, was felt over a wide area of southern Quebec, eastern Ontario and the Northern New England states. The large depth of the earthquake (approximately 22 km) limited the damage in the epicentral vicinity. A school in Neufchâtel suffered damage on the order of a few thousand dollars due to fallen concrete blocks and masonry. Otherwise, damage was limited to broken knick-knacks, one or two fallen shelves, cracked plaster and concrete, and a few cracks in asphalt in the immediate vicinity of Cap-Rouge and Quebec City.
Thank you to all who have filled out our on-line felt report survey. In the four weeks since the earthquake we have collected over 1100 responses from more than 200 different communities. You can view either the regional mapof all the communities who responded or the detailed mapof the Quebec City - Montreal region. Please note that these maps are still preliminary in nature. They represent only a sub-sample of all the responses. The final maps will take several months to compile. In the epicentral region, the residents felt the earthquake strongly. Damage to the Neufchâtel school makes it a maximum intensity VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale .
To date (December 2) 17 aftershocks have been recorded, none of them larger than magnitude 2.9. Less than 24 hours after the main shock, the Geological Survey of Canada deployed a series of portable seismographs in the immediate vicinity of the earthquake in an attempt to better define the depth of the earthquake and hopefully shed some light on the mechanism behind the event. Below are a series of photos taken during the installation of the field equipment. As expected, the aftershock activity has been decreasing in magnitude and rate during the weeks that followed the main shock. The current rate (as of December 2) is of about one earthquake of magnitude 1 or less every two or three days. The Quebec Geoscience Centre, (GSC Quebec City), will continue to operate the field stations for some additional weeks. Any aftershocks located in the future can be viewed on our list of recent Canadian earthquake activity. The preliminary aftershock locations can be viewed in map form on our Recent Charlevoix region earthquakes page.
Slide 1
Thursday Nov. 6, 2:00 p.m.. Danielle Thibault, Communications Officer with Natural Resources Canada is inviting the media to attend a press briefing to be held in Cap-Rouge. Pierre Brouillette and Léopold Nadeau, GSC Quebec City, are getting ready for the briefing.
Slide 2
Maurice Lamontagne (GSC, Ottawa) and Léopold Nadeau (GSC, Quebec City) have just set up the third seismograph site in the Quebec City region
Slide 3
Léopold Nadeau is connecting the cable from the three seismometers (in the back) to the seismograph recorder (blue box in front).
Slide 4
Bob Wetmiller (GSC, Ottawa), Pierre Brouillette and Léopold Nadeau (GSC, Quebec City) are looking at some aftershocks recorded on the seismograph (blue box to the left).
Slide 5
Bob Wetmiller (CGC, Ottawa) checks the behaviour of the seismograph installed on bedrock west of the epicentre.
Note: A GSC Current Research paper was published on this earthquake Abstract.
The Nov 5, 1997 magnitude 5.2 earthquake centred a few kilometres West of Cap-Rouge, Quebec, was felt over a wide area of southern Quebec, eastern Ontario and the Northern New England states. The large depth of the earthquake (approximately 22 km) limited the damage in the epicentral vicinity. A school in Neufchâtel suffered damage on the order of a few thousand dollars due to fallen concrete blocks and masonry. Otherwise, damage was limited to broken knick-knacks, one or two fallen shelves, cracked plaster and concrete, and a few cracks in asphalt in the immediate vicinity of Cap-Rouge and Quebec City.
Felt Responses
Thank you to all who have filled out our on-line felt report survey. In the four weeks since the earthquake we have collected over 1100 responses from more than 200 different communities. You can view either the regional mapof all the communities who responded or the detailed mapof the Quebec City - Montreal region. Please note that these maps are still preliminary in nature. They represent only a sub-sample of all the responses. The final maps will take several months to compile. In the epicentral region, the residents felt the earthquake strongly. Damage to the Neufchâtel school makes it a maximum intensity VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale .
Aftershocks
To date (December 2) 17 aftershocks have been recorded, none of them larger than magnitude 2.9. Less than 24 hours after the main shock, the Geological Survey of Canada deployed a series of portable seismographs in the immediate vicinity of the earthquake in an attempt to better define the depth of the earthquake and hopefully shed some light on the mechanism behind the event. Below are a series of photos taken during the installation of the field equipment. As expected, the aftershock activity has been decreasing in magnitude and rate during the weeks that followed the main shock. The current rate (as of December 2) is of about one earthquake of magnitude 1 or less every two or three days. The Quebec Geoscience Centre, (GSC Quebec City), will continue to operate the field stations for some additional weeks. Any aftershocks located in the future can be viewed on our list of recent Canadian earthquake activity. The preliminary aftershock locations can be viewed in map form on our Recent Charlevoix region earthquakes page.
NOTICE: SOLUTIONS ARE NOT FINAL AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. DATE TIME LAT LONG DEPTH MAG AGNCY REGION AND COMMENT ---- ---- --- ---- ----- --- ----- ------------------ 97/11/06 02:34:33 46.79N 71.40W 22.5G 5.1MN GSC QUEBEC CITY REGION. FELT 97/11/06 02:55:39 46.78N 71.39W 18.0G 2.8MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 03:05:57 46.76N 71.37W 18.0G 2.9MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 03:49:10 46.78N 71.38W 18.0G 1.7MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 03:53:17 46.79N 71.39W 18.0G 1.6MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 05:16:00 46.79N 71.38W 18.0G 2.3MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 09:02:46 46.79N 71.40W 18.0G 2.5MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 13:22:19 46.79N 71.42W 18.0G 1.8MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 14:27:10 46.79N 71.38W 18.0G 1.7MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 15:41:41 46.78N 71.39W 18.0G 2.2MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 18:52:31 46.75N 71.38W 18.0G 2.2MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/06 20:13:13 46.77N 71.37W 18.0G 1.8MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/07 11:32:47 46.82N 71.38W 22.9 2.5MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/08 03:27:50 46.79N 71.39W 25.3 1.9MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/08 14:49:26 46.78N 71.38W 23.1 2.9MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/08 15:38:46 46.78N 71.36W 24.0 2.0MN GSC FELT NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/09 01:14:40 46.78N 71.42W 21.7 1.3MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK 97/11/17 05:55:57 46.78N 71.42W 22.0G 1.2MN GSC NEAR QUEBEC CITY. AFTERSHOCK
Field Response Photos
Slide 1
Thursday Nov. 6, 2:00 p.m.. Danielle Thibault, Communications Officer with Natural Resources Canada is inviting the media to attend a press briefing to be held in Cap-Rouge. Pierre Brouillette and Léopold Nadeau, GSC Quebec City, are getting ready for the briefing.
Slide 2
Maurice Lamontagne (GSC, Ottawa) and Léopold Nadeau (GSC, Quebec City) have just set up the third seismograph site in the Quebec City region
Slide 3
Léopold Nadeau is connecting the cable from the three seismometers (in the back) to the seismograph recorder (blue box in front).
Slide 4
Bob Wetmiller (GSC, Ottawa), Pierre Brouillette and Léopold Nadeau (GSC, Quebec City) are looking at some aftershocks recorded on the seismograph (blue box to the left).
Slide 5
Bob Wetmiller (CGC, Ottawa) checks the behaviour of the seismograph installed on bedrock west of the epicentre.
