Recent moderate earthquakes in Alberta, near Peace River - 29 Nov 2022

[Astronuc]

It's somewhat unusual to have a moderate earthquake up there in Alberta.

Mag 4.5, 42 km ESE of Peace River, Canada
2022-11-29 18:55:39 (UTC-08:00) 9.2 km

Mag 4.0, 40 km ESE of Peace River, Canada
2022-11-29 17:40:29 (UTC-08:00) 9.8 km

Mag 4.3, 43 km ESE of Peace River, Canada
2022-11-29 17:24:20 (UTC-08:00) 9.9 km

Mag 5.3, 46 km ESE of Peace River, Canada
2022-11-29 16:55:56 (UTC-08:00) 10.0 km
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000j5n4/executive
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000j5n4/map

Mag 4.6, 44 km E of Peace River, Canada
2022-11-29 15:51:00 (UTC-08:00) 10.0 km

Mag 4.9, 45 km E of Peace River, Canada
2022-11-29 15:45:07 (UTC-08:00) 9.4 km

 

[Andrew Mason]

These intra-plate quakes are not infrequent in that region but are usually very minor as these data charts and map show:

Two of these quakes, however, were of magnitude 5 or more which is much bigger than normal. There were a series of smaller quakes and aftershocks:

Intra-plate tectonics is an interesting area. Earth's plates are not entirely rigid, it seems.

AM