November 5, 1997 Quebec City Earthquake
Widely Felt Across Maine

The Geological Survey of Canada reports that an earthquake occurred at 9:34:33 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, November 5, 1997, centered about 14 kilometers southwest of Quebec City at Cap-Rouge. The earthquake, one of the largest to have occurred in the Quebec City metropolitan area, was felt widely across Quebec Province and northern New England. A school near the epicenter suffered damage of a few thousand dollars to concrete and masonry. Otherwise, damage was minor. The Geological Survey of Canada deployed a series of portable seismographs in the earthquake area to monitor aftershocks. Forty-five aftershocks were recorded in the following 35 days, most of which were too small to be felt.

The following parameters have been calculated for the earthquake:

Magnitude	5.1 (calculation after Nuttli, 1973)
Accurate location	46.77 North Latitude, 71.41 West Longitude
Depth	21.6 kilometers
Focal mechanism	reverse motion on a steeply dipping, northeast-striking fault.

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Further Information:

Waveform plot of the earthquake as recorded at 19 stations of the Canadian seismic network. This plot shows the strong main shock at 2:34 UT, and smaller aftershock at 2:56 UT. (How to read the hourly plots.)

Report on the Cap Rouge earthquake from the Canadian National Earthquake Hazards Program. Includes maps, photos, and narrative reports by people who experienced the earthquake.

Abstract of a technical article available from the Geological Survey of Canada.

11/7/97 Press release issued by the Maine Geological Survey, Maine Department of Conservation.

Preliminary report on the Cap Rouge, Quebec, earthquake by the Maine Geological Survey, as the 1998 December Geologic Site of the Month. This report includes a record of the event from the seismic station in Milo, and an isoseismal map of intensities reported across Maine.

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Reference:

Nuttli, Otto W., 1973: "The Mississippi Valley Earthquakes of 1811 and 1812; Intensities, Ground Motion, and Magnitudes," Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 63, No.1, p. 227-248.

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Last updated on October 6, 2005

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