4.5-magnitude earthquake hits Peace Country near Grande Prairie

Article content

An unusually far-reaching earthquake originating five kilometres under the Grande Prairie area was felt as far away as Prince George, B.C., Thursday afternoon, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The quake is being investigated as to its cause.

Earthquake seismologist Alison Bird said while most reports came from McBride, B.C., the temblor’s effects were noted 300 kilometres away.

Article content

“It was felt quite lightly, but it seems to have been felt quite far, which is interesting. For a 4.6 earthquake, that seems quite far, especially because some of those seismic waves had to travel through the Rocky Mountains into B.C. and going through that sort of terrain can often weaken seismic waves,” she said.

“The Alberta energy regulator is investigating whether this might have been induced by industrial activities, because it did happen in an area where that sort of thing is happening,” Bird said.

Grande Prairie is located in the lower third of the diagonal region known as the Montney Formation, a shale area known to be one of the richest natural gas formations in North America.

Extracting the gas involves hydraulic drilling and fracturing or “fracking,” to force the gas out of crevices.

The Alberta Energy Regulator acknowledges seismic effects of extraction.

“Studies have shown us that hydraulic fracturing can cause earthquakes in Alberta,” said the AER website.

The quake itself was a release of pressure within the North American plate.

“Industrial activity can shift the stresses around, and that can often cause there to be movement on faults within that plate.

Article content

Article content

“Because of the industrial activity, we have seen an increase in regions where there is sort of fracking going on,” Bird said.

“They are natural earthquakes, but they’re probably happening because of this anthropogenic activity,” she said.

The quake occurred around 3:13 p.m. some 39 kilometres south of town.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the temblor.

Philip Cooper, director of corporate communications for the City of Grande Prairie, said the city’s call centre indicated there had been no public inquiries and no impacts on city services and facilities.

Will Stewart, director of terminal services for the Grande Prairie airport, said he was one of the many who didn’t feel the quake.

“If you read Facebook, there’s a few folks that must be really in tune with the earth that felt it, but there hasn’t been any, any operational impact or anything like that for us,” Stewart said.

Another quake was noted on Oct. 6 some 95 kilometres southeast of Grande Prairie.

An Earthquakes Canada graphic shows dots on the western and eastern edges of the country.

Article content

Other “significant” quakes in the past month have been noted 178 kilometres south of Fort MacPherson, N.W.T., 141 kilometres west of Burwash Landing, Yukon, and 65 kilometres northeast of Grand Cache.

[email protected]

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Article content