The 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake struck northeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

on February 28, reaching 6.2 on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

. It was one of the most powerful measured in Canada in the 20th century, with a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (''Severe'') on the

Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

at its epicentre in the area of Charlevoix- Kamouraska along the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

near île aux Lièvres and not greater than VI (''Strong'') in the United States. The quake was felt in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, as far south as

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and as far west as the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Damage

It caused damage in three separate areas. The first had extreme damage constricted to a narrow belt long on both shores of the

near the epicentre. In this area, damage at the villages of Baie-Saint-Paul, Saint-Urbain,

Les Éboulements Les Éboulements is a municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. Its population centres include Les Éboulements (located along Route 362 on the plateau overlooking the Saint Lawrence River), Éboulements-Est (at the feet ...

, Pointe-au-Pic, La Malbaie, Tadoussac and the other nearby villages of

Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière is a parish municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumer ...

Saint-Pacôme Saint-Pacôme () is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality. Saint-Pacome Catholic Church is located in the town. Local government Saint-Pacôme forms part of the federal ele ...

Rivière-Ouelle Rivière-Ouelle () is a town located in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. It is located on the Saint Lawrence River; the Ouelle River flows through the town. It was part of the seignory of ...

Saint-Philippe Saint-Philippe () is a communes of France, commune in the France, French overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department of Réunion. It is located in southeastern Reunion. Geography Saint-Philippe is on the highest point on the ...

, Saint-Denis, and Saint-Pascal on the south shore, was mostly related to the magnitude of the earthquake itself, and to some extent by the deep grainy soil on which many of the destroyed buildings were built. The two other damaged areas were

and in the

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

–

area, where the destruction was more extensive, not so much due to the strength of the earthquake, but rather to the uneven nature of the landscape.

Aftermath

A total of 55

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s were recorded, which lasted for weeks, ranging from magnitude 5 to 2. Over the years, several studies were published on the 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake, some as recently as 1999. A

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequ ...

occurred in the St. Lawrence valley the prior year on September 30. It was rated at 6.1 and was felt from Rockland, Ontario to Portland, Maine.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

* 1925 earthquakes 1925 in Quebec 1925 Charlevoix-Kamouraska 1925 Charlevoix-Kamouraska 1925 Charlevoix-Kamouraska February 1925 events {{Canada-earthquake-stub

Damage

Aftermath

See also

References

External links