| Title | Description and analysis of the earthquake damage in the Quebec City region between 1608 and 2008 |
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| Author | Lamontagne, M |
| Source | Seismological Research Letters vol. 80, no. 3, 2009 p. 514-524, https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.80.3.514 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2009 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20080567 |
| Publisher | Seismological Society of America (SSA) |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Quebec |
| NTS | 21L/10; 21L/11; 21L/12; 21L/13; 21L/14; 21L/15; 21L/16; 21M; 21N/04; 21N/05; 21N/12; 21N/13 |
| Area | La Malbaie; Baie St-Paul |
| Lat/Long WENS | -72.0000 -69.5000 48.0000 46.5000 |
| Subjects | engineering geology; geophysics; earthquakes; earthquake damage; earthquake studies; earthquake risk; earthquake magnitudes; earthquake mechanisms; earthquake catalogues |
| Illustrations | location maps; histograms; tables |
| Program | Reducing Risk from Natural Hazards |
| Released | 2009 05 06 |
| Abstract | Quebec City is rated sixth for earthquake risk among Canadian cities but ranks first or second in terms of earthquake damage over the course of its 400-year history. The examples of earthquake damage in
the Quebec City region between 1608 and 2008 were collected in a single database. For each significant earthquake, the database provides the description of damage together with the geographic position, the corresponding intensity on the Modified
Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, and the supporting document. Historically, Quebec City
was subject to several moderate to strong earthquakes with epicenters in the Charlevoix seismic zone (80 - 180 km epicentral distance) in 1663, 1791, 1860,
1870, and 1925; and in the Saguenay region (150 km epicentral distance) in 1988. M ~ 5 earthquakes at shorter epicentral distances were also felt but caused only minor damage. These facts bring to light that certain wards, mostly located in the lower
part of the city, are more likely to sustain higher levels of ground motion in future moderate to strong earthquakes. This information correlates fairly well with known near-surface shear-wave velocities, natural periods, and geotechnical properties.
Knowledge of these more-hazardous areas is important for land-use planning and emergency preparedness. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 226233 |
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