5.0 magnitude: Rocky Mountain House earthquake upgraded, 2nd largest in Alberta history
A 5.0 magnitude earthquake shook central Alberta Wednesday night.
At approximately 9:23 p.m., Earthquakes Canada reported a 4.1 magnitude earthquake 37 kilometres north of Rocky Mountain House.
That magnitude was upgraded to 5.0 on the Richter scale by Earthquakes Canada on Thursday afternoon.
The upgrade means it was Alberta's second largest on record.
People as far north as Edmonton and as far south as Calgary reported feeling "weak shaking" on Earthquake Canada website's scale of intensity.
"We’ve had reports of people who felt it out in the Leslyville area, certainly in the Arbutus area," Laura Button from the Town of Rocky Mountain House told CTV News Edmonton.
According to Rocky Mountain House's sewer and water supervisor, no damage was done to any of the town's sewage infrastructure.
"Nothing exciting happened, nothing broke," Doug Fraser said.
The tremors didn’t trigger any system alarms at the water treatment plant, and so far no one has reported any private property damage either.
"We had no complications whatsoever," Rocky Mountain House water treatment plant manager Gary Lewsaw told CTV News Edmonton.
One University of Alberta geo-physicist told CTV News Edmonton that seismic activity in central Alberta has increased in the past decade. According to Jeff Gu, that’s worth studying.
"Some of it was linked to gas production, oil production, and some of them were natural, and then there was an earthquake that was linked to wastewater disposal," Gu said.
Alberta’s energy regulator said Wednesday's earthquake was not connected to wells or drilling.
It pegged the epicentre nine kilometres below the surface, which is typically deeper than human-caused earthquakes.
Rocky Mountain House is approximately 139 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.