Canada’s BC Investigates Quakes

The BC Oil & Gas Commission, which regulates oil and gas activity in the Canadian province of British Columbia, said November 30 it is investigating a 4.5 magnitude earthquake – and at least one aftershock – which rattled parts of the northeast corner of the province last week.

The commission said nearby fracking operations were immediately shut down as a precaution, and will remain shut down while it conducts its investigation. It did not say which producers were fracking at the time.

According to Earthquakes Canada, Natural Resources Canada’s earthquake monitoring service, the first tremor occurred at 6:27 pm Mountain Standard Time on November 30 (1:27 am GMT, December 1). The quake was located at a depth of about five km between 16 km southwest and 25 km southeast of Fort St John, and was felt there and in Taylor, Chetwynd and Dawson Creek.

A magnitude 4.0 aftershock was “lightly felt” about 45 minutes later, Earthquakes Canada said. There were no reports of damage from either event.