Earthquake rattles central Alberta

SYLVAN LAKE (660 NEWS) – There appears to have been a shake-up in central Alberta as several reports of an earthquake came on Monday morning.

Earthquakes Canada confirmed seismic activity, about 4.6 in magnitude, occurred in the area between Sylvan Lake and Red Deer around 5:55 a.m.

Residents who woke up to their houses shaking took to social media.

https://twitter.com/sapphirology/status/1102567544609619968

One resident, Barb Fenske, explains what happened in her house.

“It’s almost like the train had gone through, how you have those vibrations. Then everything went black, everything was dark.”

Fenske says her husband also heard a loud explosion but when he went to investigate, he found nothing. That’s led the couple to believe the event might have been a frost quake.

“That could have been the popping that they heard. Living as close to the lake, when you pop a cube of ice, it will make that pop and I don’t know if maybe (that’s) what the sound was.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a frost quake has hit the province. Last January, a frost quake woke up residents of Alberta Beach with many reporting hearing a loud bang following by a shaking under the ground.

Others on social media wondered if the quake is related to the practice of fracking.

In a statement emailed to 660 NEWS, the Alberta Energy Regulator confirmed that fracturing operations did occur near Sylvan Lake this morning. Vesta Energy who was overseeing the operations, has since ceased work.

However, the exact cause of the quake is still under investigation

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