1933 Baffin Bay earthquake 1933 Baffin Bay earthquake The 1933 Baffin Bay earthquake struck Greenland and the Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada with a moment magnitude of 7.7 at on November 20. The main shock epicenter was located in Baffin Bay on the east coast of Baffin Island. Shaking was only felt at the small town of Upernavik, Greenland. The event is the largest recorded earthquake to strike the passive margin of North America and is the largest north of the Arctic Circle. No damage was reported because of its offshore location and the small population of the nearby onshore communities. The region around
Baffin Bay Merchants of London, Discoverers of the North-West Passage". Their governor Thomas Smythe organized five expeditions to explore the northern coasts of Canada in search of a maritime passage to the Far East. Henry Hudson and Thomas Button's explored Hudson Bay, William Gibbons Labrador, and Robert Bylot Hudson Strait and the area which became known as Baffin's Bay after his pilot William Baffin. Aboard the "Discovery", Baffin charted the area and named Lancaster, Smith, and Jones Sounds after members of his company. By the completion of his 1616 voyage, Baffin held out no hope of an ice-free passage and the area