It was sheer luck, the magnitude was only 5.0, according to the US Geological Survey, and no extreme damage was reported. The earthquake originated in Ottawa, the accounts say it was 61km north of the city.
There have been lots of descriptions of how the earthquake was felt, but the simplest one to conceive is construction work going on beneath you. The rumble could be experienced as high up as the 9th floor of office and apartment blocks according to eye witnesses. The shaking sensation may have been mild, but Lorne certainly felt the earthquake.
The quake puts in context just how exposed we are in Canada to natural disaster, even though one of this size only occurs once a decade. It makes you stop and think, how prepared are you and your household for the big one?
There are many things you can do to ready yourself for such disasters, but one important thing to remember is life insurance.
Earthquakes are among the most expensive natural disasters, along with floods and tornadoes. When looking at figures for damage taking place from natural disasters, from 1950 to 2001, 30% of this was associated to earthquakes. Although, they account for only 9% of the human cost, fading in comparison to famine, which killed 42% of people, but accounts for only 4% of the total damage over those years.
Whereas only 75,252 lives were lost per year in the 90s, as opposed to 86,328 annually in the 80s, an average of 211 million people a year affected by natural disaster in the 90's up from 147 million in the 80's.
There are three times more natural disasters now than there ever were in the 1960s and the financial impact has risen by a factor of nine over the same interval.
With more disasters occurring then it stands to reason that more and more people are going to have their lives affected by them, therefore it is only natural to look at ways of minimizing the impact on your family.
The good news is, all five top Canadian insurance companies we surveyed will cover death in the event of a natural disaster. There are exclusions though, these will include natural disaster occurring in places such as war zones or any area that travel is not recommended.
Written by L.S. Marr, the president of LSM Insurance and mortgage life insurance adviser