The Alberta Geological Survey has confirmed two seismic events took place late Monday night in the Alberta Beach area; a number of homes in the region were damaged.
One resident said the ground shook and woke her family up early Tuesday morning.
“We were asleep and woken around 1:30 in the morning but neighbours say they were awake and could feel the ground moving at that time,” Sharon Smith told CTV News.
Damage could be seen on a number of homes, cracked walls and damaged foundations – in addition to a large crack in the ground.
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) Alberta Geological Survey branch confirmed to CTV News that “two seismic events of approximately 2.0 magnitude each occurred” before midnight Monday.
Officials said the exact location of both events couldn’t be confirmed, due to their low magnitude and sparsity of seismic stations.
“However, initial information shows that both events are consistent with reports of an earthquake near the Town of Alberta Beach,” a statement from AER said.
As for the cause of the incidents, officials said the “small magnitude of these events makes it difficult to say definitively what type of seismic event occurred” but said it could have been a natural earthquake or an “ice quake”.
“Ice quakes are naturally occurring and happen when cold winter temperatures cause groundwater to freeze quickly, causing the ground in the area to suddenly crack and make popping sounds,” the statement said.
