FEDERAL EXPERT: Large cascading earthquakes in northern BC ‘very likely’ due to fracking

Two major earthquakes within a week in northeast BC were likely caused by hydraulic fracturing, or hydraulic fracturing, according to preliminary information from federal scientists.

On November 11, the Canadian Seismic Company reported a 4.7-magnitude earthquake 132 kilometers northwest of Fort St. John.

This was followed four days later by a magnitude 4.6 earthquake, which was recorded just 1 km from the first seismic event.

“There is an active hydraulic fracturing process nearby,” said Professor Hun Cao, a research scientist with the Canadian Geological Survey. “The potential for these two events to be triggered by the industry is extremely high.”

Earthquake Canada said that while people felt the quake “lightly in the surrounding area,” there were no reports of damage.

Fracking involves injecting fluids into a deep well under high pressure to break tight rock formations and release the natural gas within.

A research scientist from the Canadian Geological Survey said two back-to-back earthquakes in northeastern British Columbia were “highly likely” because of hydraulic fracturing operations nearby. (cbc graphics)

According to the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC), the province’s energy regulator, fracking in British Columbia occurs much deeper underground than it does in other regions of the world — sometimes more than four kilometers below the surface.

In an email to CBC News, BCOGC said that all drilling in the Montney Formation near Fort St John B.C., “includes or will eventually include hydraulic fracturing.”

According to information on the BCOGC website, “microseismic events” occur when fluid breaks up rock.

“In some cases, where there is a sensitive pre-existing fault, slip can occur at the fault level,” she says.

The BC energy regulator says the majority of fracturing gas wells in the province are in the Montney region in the northeast. (British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission / contribution)

While the vast majority of hydraulic fracturing does not trigger earthquakes, the practice has been linked to most of the larger seismic events in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia over the past decade.

Cao said the time and location of the fracking operations fit within the framework of the November earthquakes. He said additional data from the drilling company would help establish a “definite causal relationship”.

In a written statement, a BCOGC spokesperson told CBC News that Petronas, the fracking company in the remote area on November 11, “immediately ceased operations” after the first quake, but later resumed operations.

“The events of November 11 and November 15 have been identified in connection with oil and gas activity involving active fracking,” the Oil and Gas Commission said.

The November quakes weren’t large enough to destroy critical infrastructure or affect local communities, Cao said, but they were much larger and closer together than other faulting earthquakes in the area.

“It certainly should be considered significant because, with a magnitude 4.6 or 4.7 earthquake, we are basically reaching the limit. [of magnitude] For what we have observed over the past decade in western Canada.

“Having two larger events within a week in the same area tells us something.”

Cao said the last earthquake of magnitude 4.6 in the region was recorded in 2015. He said it was considered one of the largest fault-induced earthquakes recorded in Canada at that time.

He said he hopes the additional research will help the industry mitigate or reduce the potential for seismic events.

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