By Josh Hall- RD News Now

Earthquake hits near Rocky Mountain House Sunday morning

Mar 10, 2019 | 11:40 AM

Red Deer, AB — A second earthquake in seven days has struck the central Alberta region, this time near Rocky Mountain House.

Earthquakes Canada tweeted the following on Sunday morning:

While there have been many reports of feeling shaking, there have been no reports of power outages or damages, according to Dr. Honn Kao, a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

“Certainly for Alberta, two magnitude larger than 4 occurring within a week is considered to be unusual, but we have to realize that the western part of Alberta is very close to the Rocky Mountains which has historically had seismic activities,” says Kao. “Although I would consider two in a week relatively unusual, I don’t think it should be characterized as impossible.”

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

Apr 18, 2024

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

Medicine Hat College holding event for missing and murdered Indigenous women awareness day

Apr 16, 2024

Kao adds that the Alberta Energy Regulator has been contacted regarding any industrial activity in the area around the epicentre, but the preliminary answer from the AER, he says, is that there isn’t much happening near there.

However, he did note that a depth of 10 km is considered ‘shallow’ by industry standards.

On Tuesday, the Alberta Energy Regulator ordered Vesta Energy Ltd. to suspend fracking operations at a well site near Monday’s quake which hit close to Red Deer.

The investigation is still ongoing into whether that earthquake was naturally occurring or in fact caused by fracking.

One person who lives near the Cow Lake Store said on Facebook that Sunday’s quake near Rocky felt like someone ran into the house with a vehicle.

If you experienced anything Sunday morning, you can report it online at www.EarthquakesCanada.nrcan.gc.ca.

More to come.