The Charlevoix Seismic Zone is a seismically active area in the

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

region of northeastern

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 thirtee ...

, Canada. It is also known as the Charlevoix-Kamouraska Seismic Zone because earthquakes occur in Kamouraska County where the land expression of the seismic zone is separated by 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 ...

. Much seismic activity takes place under the river. With over 200 small

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s occurring each year, the Charlevoix Seismic Zone is one of the most active seismic zones in Canada. Since 1663, five damaging earthquakes have occurred in the area, including a magnitude 7.3-7.9 event in 1663, a magnitude 7.0 event in 1791, a magnitude 6.0 event in 1860, a magnitude 6.5 event in 1870 and a magnitude 6.2 event in 1925. Because of these concerns, the Charlevoix Seismic Zone is considered to be a highly hazardous earthquake zone and it is comparable to those in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

where earthquakes are due to movement of the Earth's

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

. In contrast, the Charlevoix Seismic Zone lies in the interior of the

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific ...

and its origin is not well known.Earthquakes of the Charlevoix Seismic Zone, Quebec

References

Earthquakes in Quebec Saint Lawrence River Seismic zones of Canada {{Quebec-stub

See also

References