An earthquake stuns camp residents north of Esterhazy, Sask., on Thanksgiving weekend

Campers in Esterhazy, Sask., were shaken after an earthquake and snowstorm over Thanksgiving weekend.

Leslie Fayant Eddy was camping with her family north of the city when a 3.7 magnitude earthquake struck their camper with a stunning jolt on October 12.

“It was a triple whammy,” said Fayant-Eddie, whose night was disrupted by the quake. “We were out of camp, dealing with snow, high winds, and now another bump.”

People in the area reported a large tremor around 11:08 PM CDT on October 12, followed by a smaller earthquake 29 minutes later. The earthquake was the second to hit Esterhazy in three months, with a 3.3 magnitude earthquake occurring on August 1.

Mosaic, which has operations in the Esterhazy region, said seismic activity caused by mining in the area is “common” but its potash operations were not affected by the quake. The event occurred north of Mosaic's former mine workings, the company said in a statement.

“All employees were quickly accounted for, and comprehensive safety checks and inspections confirmed that no findings had been reported. Operations at Esterhazy continued as usual, without any impact on production or infrastructure,” she added.

Environment Canada confirmed that the earthquake was the result of a “suspected mining event” about 18 kilometers northeast of Esterhazy.

“This event registered well below the significant impact threshold. While the two recent events occurred far from existing mining areas and present no immediate safety concerns, we continue to develop our knowledge of the geological characteristics of the K3 ore body and are working with outside experts to review seismic activity.”

In addition to the earthquake that night, the area witnessed a snowstorm accompanied by strong winds that caused a power outage in the area.

Big surprise

Fayant Eddy, of Yorkton, Sask., said the earthquake interruption came during an annual dirt bike and quad ride for Thanksgiving.

“The earthquake was a big surprise in the middle of the night,” she said.

The group was camped one mile north of Esterhazy near the Esterhazy Dam.

“We just got back from Thanksgiving dinner. We hunkered down, put the kids to bed — mostly normal stuff. I was laying in bed, reading stuff on my phone and my husband had just fallen asleep,” she said.

“Then, all of a sudden, it hit us. It pushed us to the left very suddenly, then it shook again to the right and then settled down again. It was to the point where I thought maybe something had fallen on us, or a car or something had pushed us, but there was no bang.”

Fayant Eddy said several notifications on her phone alerted her that what her family had just felt was an earthquake. She said they were talking to people in a nearby cart, wondering if they were still on their platforms.

“I got my coat and my flashlight out, and you can see that the snow on the pads has been pushed away. The only thing I noticed is that [wheel] The pegs moved, and I have never had my pegs move in all my decades of camping.

She said everything else on their site looked good.

“We were so freaked out when it first happened, we didn't really know what it was. In fact, our neighbors' water bottles fell into the other cart from the island, and their TV fell out of the wall,” she said. She added that their power was cut off at 3 a.m. Central American time due to the weight of the snow.

Earthquakes are common in the area

Earthquakes are rare in Saskatchewan, but when they do occur, about half of them occur in the Esterhazy area.

It occurs there because of the underground geological structure in that area, which is also the reason why the area is suitable for potash mining.

There was a 3.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016, and 19 total earthquakes close to this magnitude in the region since 1981.

Andrew Fredrickson, a seismologist at the University of Manitoba, noted in 2016 that while some earthquakes in the region may be due to mining, others are not. Esterhazy lies above the Prairie Evaporite Formation, which contains potash and other soluble minerals, making it more vulnerable to earthquakes, he said.

“It's not necessarily concentrated where most of the mining is. It's particularly concentrated at the edge of the evaporite, which suggests there's some sort of dissolution effect going on.”

“In particular, this group is east of Esterhazy which may have something to do with what groundwater is doing there. Maybe there is more groundwater interacting with evaporite formation in that area.”

The Prairie Evaporite Formation runs through much of the prairie, but its outer edge — where Esterhazy is located — is the most earthquake-prone, he said.

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