$26.5 million for McGill Research from NSERC Discovery Research Programs

$26.5 million for McGill Research from NSERC Discovery Research Programs - Asked to list the most earthquake prone countries, few people would earmark Canada. Yet, in 2021, Natural Resources Canada identified 46 earthquakes, which registered between 1.8 and 5.3 magnitude and to date, 26 earthquakes have occurred in 2022. Damaging earthquakes are surprisingly common in the Western Quebec Seismic Zone, which encloses the Ottawa Valley from Montreal to Témiscamingue as well as the Laurentians. The question is not if but when a major quake will hit one of Canada's major urban centres, an event that poses risks to human life and infrastructure. With the support of an NSERC Discovery Grant, McGill's Christie Rowe , Associate Professor in the Department of Geology and Earth and Planetary Science and Canada Research Chair in Earthquake Geology, hopes to revolutionize the way Quebec and Canada evaluate these risks. She will conduct field investigations of unidentified tectonic faults, assessing their potential to cause an earthquake. Rowe's research program will leverage her expertise in the study of prehistoric earthquakes while promoting public outreach efforts on their causes and the methods of reducing the damage.