Present work deals with atomic and electronic alterations of the quartz structure by high energy ion irradiation. The atomic structure of irradiated quartz is probed by means of X-ray absorption spectroscopies (XANES, EXAFS). Electronic structure modifications are investigated by XPS and bulk paramagnetic point defects by ESR. The experimental data suggest that for light ions (O), irradiated quartz targets preserve their long range order.E'point defects, i.e. oxygen vacancy defects, are created along the ion path with a poor efficiency (2 GeV/E'), close to the efficiency of y rays. For heavier ions (Kr, Pb), irradiation damage consists of a trail of extended defects. These extended defects are composed of an amorphous SiO2state. The density of these amorphized regions is about 4% larger than the common relaxed silica. This poorly densified silica appears similar to that obtained by neutron irradiation of quartz. E’ defects are mostly located inside these amorphous zones (>85%).