SaskatoonCampers in the Esterhazy, Sask., area were shaken after an earthquake and a snowstorm came through during the Thanksgiving weekend. Earthquake was second in 3 months to shake the townA shot of Esterhazy, Sask., as seen from the air. (Nicole Taylor/Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)Campers in the Esterhazy, Sask., area were shaken after an earthquake and a snowstorm came through during the Thanksgiving weekend. Lesley Fayant-Eddy was camping with her family north of the town when a 3.7-magnitude earthquake hit their camper with a startling shake on Oct. 12. “It was kind of a triple-whammy. We were out camping, and we were dealing with snow, crazy wind, and now another bump from the ground,” said Fayant-Eddy, who had her night interrupted by the quake.People in the area reported significant shaking around 11:08 p.m. CST on Oct. 12, followed by a smaller quake 29 minutes later. The earthquake was Esterhazy’s second in three months, with a magnitude 3.3 earthquake reported on Aug. 1.Mosaic, which has operations in the Esterhazy area, said mining-induced seismic activity in the area is “common” but its potash operations were unaffected by the quake. The company said in a statement the event happened north of Mosaic’s past mine workings. “All employees were quickly accounted for, and comprehensive safety checks and inspections confirmed there were no reported findings. Operations at Esterhazy continued as usual, with no impact on production or infrastructure,” it said. Environment Canada confirmed the earthquake was from a “suspected mining event” approximately 18 kilometres northeast of Esterhazy. “This event registered well below the threshold for significant impact. While the two recent events occurred far from current mining areas and present no immediate safety concerns, we continue to advance our knowledge of the geological properties of the K3 ore body and are working with external experts to review seismic activity.”In addition to the earthquake that night, the area experienced a snowstorm with high winds causing power outages around the region. A big surprise Fayant-Eddy, who is from Yorkton, Sask., said the earthquake interruption came during an annual dirt bike and quadding Thanksgiving trip. ”The earthquake was a big surprise in the middle of the night,” she said. The group was camping one mile north of Esterhazy, near the Esterhazy Dam. “We had actually just got back from Thanksgiving supper. We hunkered down, got the kids to bed— mostly normal stuff. I was lying in bed, reading stuff on my phone and my husband had just fallen asleep,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden it hit. It threw us left very abruptly, then it rocked back to the right and then settled back down. It was to the point that I thought maybe something had fallen on us, or that a car or something had shoved us, but there was no bang.” Fayant-Eddy said several notifications on her phone alerted her that what her family had just felt was an earthquake. She said they were talking with the people in a nearby camper, wondering if they were still on their pads. “I got my coat and my lantern, and you could see that the snow on the pads had been pushed away. One thing that I did notice was that my [wheel] chocks had moved, and never in my decades of camping have I ever had my chocks move.” She said everything else at their site seemed fine. “We were pretty spooked when it first happened, not really knowing what it was. Our neighbours in the other camper actually had their water bottles knocked off the island, and their TV even fell off the wall,” she said. Their power went out at 3 a.m. CST from the weight of the snow, she added. Earthquakes common in areaEarthquakes are rare in Saskatchewan, but when they do occur, around half of them occur in the Esterhazy area. They happen there because of the geological makeup under the earth in that area, which is also the reason the area is conducive to potash mining.There was a 3.8-magnitude quake in 2016, and 19 total earthquakes close to that magnitude in the area since 1981.Andrew Frederikson, a seismologist at the University of Manitoba, pointed out in 2016 that while some earthquakes in the area may be due to mining, others are not. He said Esterhazy sits on top of the Prairie evaporite formation, which contains potash and other dissolvable minerals, making it more prone to earthquakes.“They’re not necessarily concentrated where the most mining is. They’re specifically concentrated on the edge of the evaporite, which suggests that there’s some sort of dissolution effect going on.“Particularly this cluster just sort of east of Esterhazy which might have something to do with what the groundwater is doing there. Maybe there’s just more groundwater interacting with the evaporite formation in that region.”He said the Prairie evaporite formation runs through a large part of the Prairies, but it is the outer edge of it—where Esterhazy is located—that is most prone to earthquakes.The Local Journalism Initiative supports the creation of original civic journalism that is relevant to the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada, broadening availability and consumption of local and regional news on matters of civic governance. Read more about The Local Journalism Initiative here. If you have any questions about the Local Journalism Initiative program, please contact lji@newsmediacanada.ca.ABOUT THE AUTHORNicole Taylor is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter at the The World-Spectator.
Earthquake startles campers north of Esterhazy, Sask., on Thanksgiving weekend
