DAWSON CREEK -- An area 200 kilometres northeast of Grande Prairie has been rattled by 3 mild earthquakes.
Andrew Schaeffer with Natural Resources Canada says the first quake hit at 8:46 am and was centred about 30 kilometres outside the hamlet of Reno, Alberta.
The first quake had a magnitude of 4.5, the second one measured 4.6, and the third registered as a 3.8 quake.
The second earthquake hit at 8:59 am. and the third at 9:07 am.
There have been several reports of people feeling the tremors as far away as Edmonton.
Schaeffer said, “The 3 quakes were shallow with a depth of about five kilometres underground.”
They were centered in the same area another quake that struck in November of 2022. “We can’t rule out that these 3 quakes are aftershocks of the November quake, (which at a magnitude of 5.2) was one of the largest earthquakes that Alberta has seen.”
There have been no reports of damage. Natural Resources Canada says it is too soon to determine what may have caused the quakes.
Schaeffer said,” Anytime when you have oil and gas operations in the area there is a complexity in determining what may have caused a quake.”
Alberta’s Energy Regulator will be looking into whether or not these latest seismic events were induced.
There were intial reports that a 4.6 magnitude quake had struck near Dawson Creek. Schaeffer said that was not the case. It was an error in reporting the second quake that struck near Reno.
