The 2000 Kipawa earthquake (or 2000 Kipawa "Millennium" earthquake ) struck

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

with a

moment magnitude 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 ...

of 5.2 at 6:22 a.m. on January 1.Natural Resources Canada: The 01 January 2000 Kipawa Earthquake (mn=5.2)
/ref> It occurred in the

Western Quebec Seismic Zone The Western Quebec Seismic Zone (french: Zone sismique de l'Ouest du Québec) is a seismically active area in the Ottawa Valley in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. The zone stretches from Montreal to Témiscaming and from Cornwall up alon ...

. The main shock

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

was located in

Lake Kipawa Lake Kipawa (in French: ''Lac Kipawa'') is a lake in far south-west Quebec, Canada, near the border with Ontario, north of Témiscaming, Quebec. Also see Kipawa River which is the only natural outflow of Kipawa Lake, Gordon Creek in Témiscam ...

about north of

Témiscaming Témiscaming is a city located at the south end of Lac Témiscamingue on the upper Ottawa River in the Témiscamingue Regional County Municipality of western Quebec, Canada. Also nearby is Lake Kipawa. It is the administrative headquarters o ...

in southwestern Quebec and northeast of

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...

. The shaking was strongest within of the epicenter. It was felt in Témiscaming, North Bay and as far away as

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, making it one of the most significant earthquakes in Canada in 2000. The earthquake was triggered by major

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

s associated with the

Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben (also known as the Ottawa Graben) is a geological structure that coincides with a wide topographic depression extending from near Montréal through Ottawa. It is part of the Saint Lawrence rift system that also includ ...

. Minor damage was reported during this earthquake, including fallen light objects, a damaged ventilation pipe and fractures in

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

. Its epicenter was very close to that of the

1935 Timiskaming earthquake The 1935 Temiskamingue earthquake occurred on November 1 with a moment magnitude of 6.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). The event took place in the Western Quebec Seismic Zone in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Que ...

and lies in a group of 76 located earthquakes since 1935. Seventeen

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 thousa ...

s were recorded.

References

2000 disasters in Canada January 2000 events in Canada 2000 Kipawa 2000 Kipawa 2000 earthquakes {{Canada-earthquake-stub

See also

References