Updated: Wed Jun. 23 2010 6:20:38 PM
ctvottawa.ca

Emergency officials are now assessing the damage after a magnitude 5.0 earthquake rocked Eastern Ontario and surrounding areas around 1:41 p.m. on Wednesday, and urging residents to check their own homes for any problems.

Most homes are built to sustain moderate earthquake damage, but those in houses that are approaching or older than 100 years old should pay special attention to the foundations, brickwork and other areas of the house, officials said.

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Sirens filled the ByWard Market and other areas of Ottawa in the minutes after the powerful quake, although there were no reports of widespread, major damage.

"We had alarm bells, some small fires because people evacuated leaving pots on stoves, some very minor structural damage in some cases," said John de Hooge, head of Ottawa's emergency services.

Biggest in 100 years

The quake, the most powerful to hit the region in a century, swayed buildings and pushed pictures off the wall across the area. The epicentre was in Val-des-Bois, Que., about 54 kilometres northeast of Ottawa, with the worst damage coming in Gracefield, Que.

• Click here to read more about the situation in Gracefield

There is a state of emergency declared in that town, which is an hour and a half northeast of Ottawa. Damage included a fallen steeple from a church, and severe damage to several buildings -- including its city hall. 

In Ottawa, as residents reported animals acting strangely in the moments before the quake, bricks fell off chimneys and foundations were cracked. However, most of the damage was minor.

"(People) should check their buildings for any signs of either damage, cracks and so on and so forth and any smells of natural gas," said emergency official John Ash. "If they find those kinds of things ... call the appropriate authorities."

Aftershocks have already hit Ottawa, but at magnitude 2.0 or 3.0 were too low to be felt by most people. In Ottawa, the area averages around 100 to 150 quakes a year but we only feel about 10 of them, said geologist Stephen Halchuk, who is with Environment Canada.

Evacuations take place

Gridlock ensued in downtown Ottawa as thousands of public servants were released from their jobs and jammed on to the Queensway and other major arteries to head to the suburbs.

"Probably the biggest I've ever seen in Ottawa," said one bystander to CTV Ottawa. "Pretty frightening."

Cell phone networks were jammed for at least half an hour following the quake as residents tried to get in touch with loved ones. Thousands turned to Twitter instead to spread the message about what happened.

Algonquin College kept buildings closed until 5 p.m. One person tweeted that the Blossom Park high school graduation was briefly interrupted by the tremors.

"The Roger Guindon building of uOttawa was evacuated after the earthquake, we're back now thankfully," added Jason Anthony Tetro, on Twitter.

Tremors in Ottawa lasted at least 12 seconds. Power was also knocked out in many areas of the city temporarily, although all was restored within an hour and a half of the quake.

Area hospitals indicated surgeries were proceeding as usual. One doctor who works at CHEO, Eric Benchimol, told CTV Ottawa by Twitter that no evacuations took place and work was continuing on patients.

Rail transportation affected

In Ottawa, a Parliament Hill live news conference stopped as reporters quickly left the room, visibly shaking the camera. 

CTV News was doing an interview with Environment Minister Jim Prentice when, as Prentice described, "suddenly my chair was moving."

"So it was pretty significant, it was quite a shake. Fortunately I was at the end of the interview and we all vacated the building," Prentice added.

The O-Train was temporarily pulled off the tracks as staff checked for damage, and VIA Rail trains were delayed moving through the busy Montreal to Toronto corridor.

Tremors were felt as far north as North Bay, as far east as the Quebec/New Brunswick border, as far south as Boston and as far west as Windsor.

"We've experienced one of the largest earthquakes in the history of the City of Ottawa," said Mayor Larry O'Brien. "But it looks like we have gone through it mostly unscathed. Scary incident for all us."

With reports from CTV Ottawa's Paul Brent, Kate Eggins and Norman Fetterley, and files from CTV.ca