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Trio of earthquakes rattle B.C., Quebec

Apparently after a break of about a month or so, three light earthquakes have shook parts of Canada over the past three days.

The first shook the Haida Gwaii region in the early hours on Saturday, measuring 4.0 on the Ritcher scale. There were no reports of damage and given its timing and 'strength', everyone in the region likely slept through it.

The second struck the same region at just after 3 p.m. PDT Sunday afternoon. It measured a little stronger, at magnitude 4.5, and was felt in Skidegate and the Village of Queen Charlotte, both in central Haida Gwaii. No damage was reported.

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Both of these are likely aftershocks of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit the Haida Gwaii region late last October.

Another quake was felt this morning, but this latest one was over 4,000 kms away, in southwestern Quebec, when a magnitude 3.1 tremor struck midway between Ottawa and Montreal at around 9:30 EDT. No damage was recorded from this mild quake, but it was felt by residents of the area.

Are these quakes any particular cause for alarm? Not really, no. There's tens of thousands of these minor to light quakes every year.

They are a reminder that the earth underneath our feet is quite active, though, and earthquakes can happen at any time, even far inland, like the magnitude 4.5 quake that shook Montreal last October.

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