Haida Gwaii Earthquake

Canada’s largest earthquake since 1700 occurred seventy-five years ago on August 22, 1949, along the Queen Charlotte Fault off the coast of British Columbia. It was felt as far north as Yukon and as far south as Oregon. The earth shook so much that cows on Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) were reportedly knocked off their feet. In Terrace, B.C., on the adjacent mainland, cars bounced around, while standing on the street was described as “like being on the heaving deck of a ship at sea.”

8.1

Magnitude of the Haida Gwaii earthquake on the moment magnitude scale.

9

The estimated magnitude of Canada’s largest recorded earthquake, the Cascadia earthquake of January 26, 1700, which took place off the West Coast.

0

Number of fatalities caused by the Haida Gwaii earthquake.

490

Length in kilometres of the rupture in the Queen Charlotte Fault that was caused by the 1949 earthquake.

4,000

Estimated number of quakes that take place in Canada each year. Most are too small for people to feel.