Canadian Earthquake Felt Locally June 23, 2010

A moderate earthquake rattled east-central Canada today and was felt into the northeastern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey pegged the quake at 5.0 magnitude. It was centered about 38 miles north of Ottawa, Ontario, at a relatively shallow depth of about 12 miles. Tall buildings swayed in Ottawa, Toronto and Detroit.

Mike Carlson was at his desk when he noticed his chair starting to move. The computer monitor on his desk at Central Vermont Public Service Corp. in Rutland shuddered, too, Wednesday afternoon moving from side to side, thanks to a magnitude-5.0 earthquake in Canada that shook a region stretching as far west as Michigan and into New England. Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon reported an "unusual event," the lowest of 4 levels of emergency classification. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan says the earthquake wasn't felt in the control room but was in other parts of the site. Vermont Emergency Management spokesman Mark Bosma said no reports of damage have been reported.

An earthquake in Canada was felt across upstate New York and Vermont, shaking buildings and lighting up phone lines to emergency services. There are no reports of any serious damage. The U.S. Geological Survey says its latest information shows the 30-second-long quake was magnitude-5.0, not 5.5 as originally thought. It was centered about 40 miles north of Ottawa. People from Buffalo to Albany and north to Massena on the St. Lawrence River say pets were startled and plates rattled at about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. David French, 53-year-old state worker from Cicero, says he was at his computer inside his home outside Syracuse when he felt his chair shake. The quake prompted several calls to state police in Ray Brook in the Adirondacks.

An magnitude 5.0 earthquake near the Ontario-Quebec border in Canada, was felt throughout New England this afternoon. Tremors were reported from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont down Massachusetts and south into Rhode Island and Connecticut. In addition to New England, the U.S. Geological Survey reports the quake was also felt in many other states in the Northeast and Midwest. "The Boston Globe" reports two buildings near Boston were evacuated including a medical building in Brookline and an office building in Medford. No injuries or major damage had been reported.