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With the development of both conventional and unconventional resources in Canada, induced seismicity caused by anthropological activities has been observed, documented, and studied.
Induced events are generally smaller in magnitude than the most ‘important’ earthquakes documented by Natural Resources Canada.[1] The largest natural earthquakes are generally located in the coastal regions of the country. The majority of large, natural seismic events in Western Canada are located near the Cascadia and Juan de Fuca Subduction Zones. The majority of large, natural seismic events in Eastern Canada are localized to distinct seismic zones like the Charlevoix-Kamouraska region. The only ‘important’ interior earthquakes, as classified by Natural Resources Canada, are the two strike-slip fault failures of local magnitude (ML) 6.6 and 6.9 observed in the Nahanni region of the Northwest Territories.[1] Induced earthquakes, however, tend to occur in a 150-km-wide band east of the Canadian Rocky Mountains where the tectonic strain rate is relatively high.[2]
Induced seismicity in Canada is mainly related to hydraulic fracturing and wastewater disposal.[3][4] Within the central Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), evidence shows that geological factors likely influence the nature of induced seismicity related to hydraulic fracturing operations, as they share two characterizations in terms of spatial distributions:[3]
1. Pre-existing basement-controlled faults are more likely to be triggered based on the focal depth analysis of earthquake clusters;
2. The lateral distributions of earthquake clusters are significantly correlated with the margins of the fossil reef structures in the Swan Hills Formation.
These phenomena can be explained by the regional- and local-scale geological evolution of this area.[3] First, basement tectonics play a role in reef growth which were nucleated on elevated structures during the Devonian period. Second, the generation of dolomitized strata requires deep-seated faults to transport Mg-enriched fluid, which can later provide transport conduits for injected fluids, thereby creating hydraulic connections with the reservoir. Dolomitization of Devonian strata increased the formation permeability and generated greater fluid diffusivity, thus more induced seismicity occurred.[3]
A total of 216 induced earthquakes occurred between 2009 and 2011 at the Etsho and Kiwigana fields in Horn River, Canada.[5] Of those, 19 were between magnitudes (ML) 2 and 3, and the largest felt event reached ML 3.8.[5] Seismicity was temporally correlated to pumping fluids during hydraulic fracture treatments, with earthquakes starting several hours after the onset of pumping.[6][5] Since at least 2009, the Horn River Basin has been the site of induced seismicity associated with oil and gas activities. The BC Oil and Gas Commission states that over 8,000 hydraulic fracturing completions have had no associated anomalous seismicity in this region between 2009 and 2011.[6]
Studies on induced seismicity have been ongoing since the 1970s.[7][8] Focus on the cause of induced seismicity has shifted from activities related to conventional resources like mining to unconventional resource exploration and production.[9] Barriers to understanding induced seismicity processes include lack of access to subsurface hydrogeological and geomechanical data, insufficient stress state data, and limited records of seismicity at the nucleation process scale.[10]
^ abCanada, Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Earthquakes. "Important Canadian Earthquakes". www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2018-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Kao, Honn; Hyndman, Roy; Jiang, Yan; Visser, Ryan; Smith, Brindley; Mahani, Alireza Babaie; Leonard, Lucinda; Ghofrani, Hadi; He, Jiangheng (2018). "Induced Seismicity in Western Canada Linked to Tectonic Strain Rate: Implications for Regional Seismic Hazard". Geophysical Research Letters. 45 (20): 11, 104–11, 115. Bibcode:2018GeoRL..4511104K. doi:10.1029/2018GL079288. ISSN 1944-8007.
^ abcdSchultz, Ryan; Corlett, Hilary; Haug, Kristine; Kocon, Ken; MacCormack, Kelsey; Stern, Virginia; Shipman, Todd (2016-03-28). "Linking fossil reefs with earthquakes: Geologic insight to where induced seismicity occurs in Alberta". Geophysical Research Letters. 43 (6): 2534–2542. Bibcode:2016GeoRL..43.2534S. doi:10.1002/2015gl067514. ISSN 1944-8007.
^Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcDavies, Richard; Foulger, Gillian; Bindley, Annette; Styles, Peter (2013). "Induced seismicity and hydraulic fracturing for the recovery of hydrocarbons" (PDF). Marine and Petroleum Geology. 45: 171–185. doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.03.016.
^ ab"Investigation of Observed Seismicity in the Horn River Basin". BC Oil and Gas Commission. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
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