Another earthquake has rattled Central Alberta, this time near Rocky Mountain House.
Earthquakes Canada reported seismic monitors measured a 4.3 magnitude earthquake about 4 a.m. that was lightly felt in Rocky and Clearwater County
“There are no reports of damage and none would be expected,” says Earthquakes Canada on its website of the latest quake 30 km northwest of Rocky Mountain House.
Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) spokesperson Cara Toibin said they started getting calls after the earthquake hit.
“It was felt on the surface by a number of people who called it in to the AER,” said Toibin on Sunday. “We are looking into the event.
“We are not aware of any industrial activity in that area that would have caused that event.”
Naturally occurring seismic activity is not uncommon in the area. In August 2014 a 4.3 magnitude quake happened.
While some felt the quake, it does not seem to have caused any damage.
“As far as I know there are no reports of damage or impact to safety or impacture to infrastructure.”
An interactive map at www.aer.ca on AER’s website shows minor earthquakes are common in Alberta, mostly on a line along the Rocky Mountains and the Foothills. They occur within the thrust-fault systems that can be traced to the ancient mountain building processes that created the Rocky Mountains.
However, there are several areas where earthquakes have clustered. One is 30 km southwest of Rocky Mountain House and another is 90 km northwest of the town. Other clusters are near Fox Creek and Cardston.
Last Monday, an earthquake measured at 4.6 on the Richter scale happened just before 6 a.m. about 20 km south of Sylvan Lake. The startled some residents, ratthling doors and windows through Sylvan Lake, Red Deer and Lacombe.
There were no reports of damage.
Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is investigating whether the quake had anything to do with fracking activity by Calgary-based Vesta Energy Ltd., which was working in the area.
The company detected the quake and immediately stopped operating while reporting the incident to regulators. AER has suspended fracking at the site until it gets to the bottom of the incident.