It had a moment magnitude of 6.6 Mw  and a Modified Mercalli intensity rating of X (Extreme).

Effects from the earthquake were felt as far as Virginia and along the New England coast of the United States.

The Charlevoix Seismic Zone (CSZ) lies along the St. Lawrence River, northeast of Quebec City.

Focal mechanisms for earthquakes in this zone are consistent with rupture on both reverse and strike-slip faults.

The main structures of the area are faults of the Saint Lawrence rift system that run parallel to the river, formed during the break-up of the supercontinent Rodinia in the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic.

Larger events lie outside the impact structure and have inferred nodal planes consistent with reactivation of the rift faults.

The relatively weak impact structure is interpreted to cause a perturbation of the regional stress field, affecting the stability of the rift faults.