Updated 12:15 PM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 struck eastern Canada on Friday morning, the government said.
The quake was centered about 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Shawville, in western Quebec, near the Ontario border. It was felt in the Ottawa-Gatineau area and out to Toronto, more than 260 miles away, and in New York state.
Authorities say it is unlikely the quake, which occurred at 9:43 a.m., caused significant damage.
The quake was followed 10 minutes later by a magnitude-4.1 aftershock, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Shawville.
"We had a lot of shaking, that's for sure," said Kim Bulmer, town clerk of nearby Renfrew, Ontario. "But I just checked with the public works director, and there does not seem to be any reports of damage so far."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said state emergency officials were monitoring the quake, felt in parts of the state.
"At this time, there have been no reports of damage to any of the state's critical infrastructure," Cuomo said in a written statement.
Eastern Canada has a relatively low rate of earthquake activity, according to the Natural Resources Canada agency, but there have been large earthquakes before, with about four exceeding magnitude 4 per year.
"A decade will, on average, include three events greater than magnitude 5," the agency said.