But, Yves Galarneau, the deputy director general of Correctional Services Western Quebec, he'd never seen anything like this escape in his three-decade-long career.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

With an epicenter about 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Shawville, in western Quebec, the quake was felt in the Ottawa-Gatineau area and out to Toronto, more than 260 miles away.

CNN: Quake reported in eastern Canada

And beyond it is a still more alarming thought: suppose English-majority areas in western and southern Quebec were to start taking seriously the idea that what Crees can demand ordinary Anglo-Canadians can too?

ECONOMIST: Canada—well, most of it—tries again | The

Mr Harper, with a strong western base, has tried to woo Quebec with extra cash and much political flattery, hoping to raise his party's current haul of 11 of the province's 75 seats in the 308-member House of Commons.

ECONOMIST: Economic fears ambush Stephen Harper��s hopes of a majority