Record 5.58 earthquake hits northern Alberta

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A record earthquake hits Alberta, sending waves across the state and capturing the attention of scientists.

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On Tuesday, the Canadian Earthquake Service reported a magnitude 5.8 quake at about 5:55 pm. The epicenter was about 356 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, and the epicenter was about 356 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.

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The quake was first reported at a magnitude of 6.0, but the Alberta Geological Survey’s seismic dashboard reported a magnitude of 5.58, still the largest recorded earthquake in the state’s history, said seismologist Ryan Ryan. Schultz said in an interview with Postmedia.

“The previous largest earthquake ever recorded in Alberta was a magnitude 5.4 at Dawson Creek in 2001,” said the researcher, who studied Alberta’s earthquakes and earned a doctorate in geophysics from Stanford University in California. Schultz has acquired.

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A community strength map of Earthquake Canada, reported by crowdsourcing from members of the public who felt the quake, had 335 responses, from high levels approximately 300 kilometers north of the epicenter to Calgary approximately 750 kilometers southeast of the site.

Schultz said scientists like himself were interested in studying the quake and to better understand whether it was natural or man-made. said there is.

“If it’s natural, then this is basically what you have to live with. It’s a fact of the natural process going on,” he said. is triggered, we may be able to do something about it.”

While natural earthquakes are more common for residents of BC and California, Schultz says they’re not unheard of in Alberta.

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As the BC plate subducts beneath the continental plate of North America, it pushes the landmass and exerts a force, creating a stress that travels 1,000 kilometers away to Alberta, Schultz said.

“This stress and tension built up from this process is sometimes released by what’s called an earthquake. There’s a fault somewhere and it slips quickly and that energy is released,” he said. .

But most of the earthquakes that occur in Alberta are induced, Schultz said.

“They are caused by humans, either by fracking operations, scrapping operations, or production operations in the oil and gas industry, and there is a long history of associated earthquakes documented,” he said. I was.

— with file by Anna Junker

hissawi@postmedia.com

@hamdiissawi