A colleague of mine, Stephen Cox Thomas, reminded me that there had been a very severe earthquake that occurred in February of 1663. So, if you are feeling at all nervous about the one we felt last week, take a look at this account, taken from the Jesuit Relations, and be grateful that this was not the earthquake that we encountered. There have been other historically recorded earthquakes in Eastern Canada, but this was one of the most severe.

The Jesuit Relations are the annual accounts of the Jesuit priests who lived among the Huron-Wendat and their Algonkian allies from 1634 until 1650 and among the Iroquois from 1654 to 1667. This account was by the famous Jesuit, Jerome Lalemant, who replaced Brebeuf in the summer of 1638 among the Huron. In 1644, he became the head of all Jesuits in New France and was stationed in Quebec for two periods including the one during which he wrote this account.

From the Historical Atlas of Canada: From the Beginning to 1800. Edited by R. Cole Harris