The November 25, 1988, moment magnitude 5.9 (Mw) Saguenay earthquake is one of the largest eastern Canadian earthquakes of the 20th century. It was preceded by a magnitude (MN) 4.7 foreshock and followed by very few aftershocks considering the magnitude of the
main shock. The largest aftershock was a magnitude (MN) 4.3 event. This Open File (OF) Report presents a variety of documents (including original and interpreted felt information, images, newspaper clippings, various engineering reports on the damage, mass movements). This OF updates the report of
Cajka and Drysdale (1994) with additional material, including descriptions of the foreshock and largest aftershock. Most of the felt report information come from replies of a questionnaire sent to postmasters in more than 2000 localities in Canada and in the United States. Images of the original
felt reports from Canada are included. The OF also includes information gathered in damage assessments and newspaper accounts. For each locality, the interpreted information is presented in a digital table. The fields include the name, latitude and longitude of the municipality and the interpreted
intensity on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale (most of which are the interpretations of Cajka and Drysdale, 1996). When available or significant, excerpts of the felt reports are added. This OF Report also includes images from contemporary newspapers that describe the impact. In addition,
information contained in post-earthquake reports are discussed together with pictures of damage and mass movements. Finally, a GoogleEarth kmz file is added for viewing the felt information reports within a spatial tool.
Felt reports and impact of the November 25, 1988, magnitude 5.9 Saguenay, Quebec, earthquake sequence