Earthquake near Maniwaki felt in Gatineau, Ottawa, and Montreal

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Maniwaki, Que., on Sunday morning, with no damage reported. (Earthquakes Canada)

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Maniwaki, Que., on Sunday morning, according to Earthquake Canada.

The agency said the quake’s epicentre was approximately 75 km from Maniwaki and occurred at 8:02 a.m.

Natural Resources Canada received over 1,800 reports of tremors from residents in Montreal, Laval, Granby, and even as far as Quebec City.

A resident of Rivière-Rouge said their home shook for about 15 seconds.

The earthquake was also felt in Gatineau, as well as in Pembroke and Ottawa, Ontario, with the largest cluster of reports coming from that region.

No damage has been reported.

“It is large enough to be widely felt,” said Stephen Crane, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada in a recent interview.

“We do have the experience in Eastern Canada that earthquakes are felt to great distances, and that's just a feature of the properties in Eastern Canada, the crustal structure is very old, and seismic wave propagation is very efficient.”

Crane added that normally the onset of damage happens at about a magnitude five earthquake.

The seismologist noted that aftershocks are not expected at this particular magnitude but even if they occurred, he said they would be too small to be felt as widely as the main shock.

“It's a shared experience. So, when we do get something that we can talk about that's maybe less common than the shared weather that we get, it is common for people to discuss it, and especially one that is felt so widely,” he said.

“We had people feel it very close to the earthquake, and others as far away as Montreal and even further.”