Earthquakes in Montreal might be more common than you think.
According to the City, Montreal is one of Quebec’s three “highest earthquake risk zones,” along with the Laurentians and the TĂ©miscamingue region.
The City of Montreal says potential impacts include landslides, power outages, water main breaks, industrial accidents, and damages to buildings, bridges, and roads.
On Monday night, a 3.7 magnitude earthquake struck just 26 kilometres outside of Montreal.
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Fortunately, no real damage had been reported as a result of the quake — which had a depth of 10 kilometres.
The City of Montreal advises locals to take shelter beneath a heavy piece of furniture (table, desk, bed) and to move to the middle of a room (if possible), while staying away from windows.
“Do not try to go somewhere else or go outside while there are tremors,” says the City. “Earthquakes are unpredictable. At times, they may be so violent that you will be unable to go anywhere, even by crawling.”
If you’re outdoors, find a clear space away from buildings and stay clear of high-voltage power lines, trees, and anything else that could fall from above.
If you’re still shaken from Monday’s earthquake, we’ve done some digging on the federal Earthquakes Canada website to find the 10 biggest recorded earthquakes across the Montreal metropolitan area.
Earthquakes Canada
Take note, the federal information only goes back to 1985. While speaking with the Ville de Montreal, a City rep says the strongest earthquake to ever hit the city was estimated at 5.8 on the Richter scale and it happened way back in 1732.
Stephen Halchuk, a Seismologist at the Canadian Hazards Information Service says Western Quebec experiences “roughly 100 to 150 earthquakes per year.” He says the majority of these earthquakes are “too small or too remote” to be felt and about 10 per year are noticed by the public. “Earthquakes the size of last night’s magnitude 3.5 earthquake occur, on average, every year or so.”
The 10 biggest earthquakes in recorded Montreal history (ascending order)
| Date/Time | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Location description |
| 2010-02-28 03:51:24 | 3.9 MN | 17.5 | 6 km NW from Brownsburg-Chatham, QC |
| 2020-01-13 10:37:58 | 4.0 MN | 14 | 19 km SE from Huntingdon, QC |
| 2012-11-06 09:05:27 | 4.2 MN | 6.5 | 2 km E from Hawkesbury, ON |
| 2006-01-09 15:35:39 | 4.2 MN | 12.5 | 13 km SE of Ormstown, QC |
| 1999-10-31 20:14:10 | 4.2 MN | 18 | 22 km N from Lachute, QC |
| 1997-05-24 18:52:09 | 4.2 MN | 18 | Western Quebec |
| 2011-03-16 17:36:55 | 4,3 MN | 12.8 | 6 km SE from Hawkesbury, ON |
| 1993-11-16 09:31:44 | 4.3 MN | 15.1 | Napierville, QC |
| 1996-03-14 10:42:26 | 4,4 MN | 18 | Western Quebec |
| 2012-10-10 04:19:28 | 4.5 MN | 14 | 11 km SE from Vercheres, QC |
The most common standard of measurement of earthquakes is the Richter scale, developed in 1935.
While speaking with Earthquakes Canada, the federal agency says the Richter scale is used to rate the magnitude of an earthquake — specifically, the amount of energy it releases — which is calculated by using a seismograph.
The Richter scale is logarithmic meaning that whole-number jumps indicate a tenfold increase. For example, the wave amplitude in a level 3 earthquake is 10 times great than a level 2.
Earthquakes Canada says most quakes in Canada are “very small,” and a majority of earthquakes register less than three on the Richter scale and are “barely felt” by humans.
In general, you won’t see much damage from earthquakes that register below level 4 on the Richter scale.
Earthquakes Canada’s full database can be found online.
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