Albertan learned more last week about the cause of a magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck in the Peace River region in November, but can a similar event happen here in Saskatchewan? 

Since 1990, Earthquakes Canada has recorded nine true natural earthquakes that were relatively small, ranging in magnitude from two to three. Many of those earthquakes happened near Saskatoon, but they weren’t isolated to that area. 

More common in Saskatchewan is what Earthquakes Canada calls industrial “blasts”. There are earthquakes that are caused by industrial and mining-related activities. There were 16 “blasts” recorded near Flin Flon since 1990 and 26 near the Esterhazy potash mine. The largest took place in the Esterhazy area in 2019 with a magnitude of 4.1. 

While earthquakes are rare in our part of the country, Earthquakes Canada Seismologist Claire Perry said it isn’t impossible for them to happen. 

“We never really can say with certainty an earthquake will or will not occur here. An earthquake could occur anywhere at any time. It's just much less probable to happen in stable regions like the centre of the country,” she explained. 

Perry said there are fault lines across the globe, but they develop differently and can shift at different rates. For instance, tectonically active zones have visible faults near the surface and deform at fast rates of about two to three centimetres per year. 

She explained that Saskatchewan is in an “intraplate” region with deep fault lines in the earth. There is little tectonic activity in Saskatchewan, but Perry said tectonic forces can accumulate over hundreds of millions or billions of years. If there is significant stress along those fault lines, an earthquake can take place. 

If you do feel the earth shaking, Perry said you can report the activity on the Earthquakes Canada website. 

“Please visit our web page and tell us about it because this information really helps us to build better ground-motion models and understand earthquakes better all in all,” Perry said. 

If an earthquake is happening in your area you should take safety precautions including “drop, cover and hold on.” This means taking cover under a table or desk. Perry said, while it might be a natural instinct, do not run outside as often injuries occur from falling debris.