Magnitude-4.6 earthquake strikes near Red Deer

A rare earthquake rattled central Alberta this morning.

The magnitude-4.6 tremor happened minutes before 6 a.m. MST about four kilometres southwest of Red Deer, Alta.

EARTHQUAKE Mag=4.6 on 04 Mar at 05:55 MST.

Details : https://t.co/JMylfwKl7A

4 km SSW of Red Deer, AB

132 km NNE of Calgary, AB

— Earthquakes Canada (@CANADAquakes) March 4, 2019

According to Earthquakes Canada, the earthquake was a shallow one with a depth of just one kilometre.

There’s been no report of injuries or major damage, but FortisAlberta confirmed a power outage that’s believed to be connected to the incident.

We have reports that there was an earthquake near Red Deer. At this point, we can't confirm whether the power outage was related to this and continue to work with @AltaLink on the investigation. #Alberta

— FortisAlberta (@FortisAlberta) March 4, 2019

Historically, this is one of the largest recorded earthquakes to ever strike Alberta.

The only stronger earthquake was a magnitude-4.8 tremor that shook Jasper, right on the British Columbia border, 38 years ago.

Here's a list of the largest #earthquakes in Alberta. 4.2 today in Fox Creek. pic.twitter.com/EXd49muot0

— Michel Gosselin (@MGBlastroid) January 12, 2016

Another magnitude-4.6 earthquake was measured in Lethbridge in 2003.

According to Earthquakes Canada, however, this is the largest recorded earthquake for this specific region of Alberta.

An official cause for the earthquake hasn’t been provided, but the speculation from many is that it was caused by fracking.