Fox Creek, Alberta: ‘Location of earthquake consistent with being induced by hydraulic fracturing operations,’ says Alberta Energy Regulator spokesperson.
Did Alberta Just Break a Fracking Earthquake World Record?
Regulator says drilling likely triggered 4.4 temblor.
Hydraulic fracturing, a technology used to crack open difficult oil and gas formations, appears to have set off a swarm of earthquakes near Fox Creek, Alberta, including a record-breaking tremor with a felt magnitude of 4.4 last week.
That would likely make it the largest felt earthquake ever caused by fracking, a development that experts swore couldn’t happen a few years ago.
Fracking operations in British Columbia’s Montney shale generated similar seismic activity of that magnitude last year, and earthquake scientists at Ontario’s Western University are still analyzing the two events to see which is the largest.
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