B.C. shares tightened fracking rules after series of earthquakes near Fort St. John

The British Columbia Energy Regulator has toughened up its oversight of "induced" seismic activity after a series of earthquakes linked to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the northeastern corner of the province.

The orders both require operators in the area to immediately halt operations if they trigger a seismic event of a certain magnitude.

John Cassidy, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, says the regulator has confirmed that four quakes between last Saturday and Wednesday were related to the gas industry practice.

The quakes ranged in magnitude from 3.1 to 4.7, with the most powerful felt in Fort St. John, B.C., about 105 kilometres southeast of the epicentre.

Cassidy says earthquakes triggered by fracking in B.C. typically result from the injection of material into shallow wells to open up fractures and release gas for extraction, and almost all of the induced quakes are "tiny."

"There have been no recorded earthquakes large enough to cause damage in the area," he said.

Still, B.C.'s energy regulator issued an update on Thursday saying it was "strengthening" its oversight of induced seismicity in the region by "enhancing" an existing order and adding a new one for another nearby area.

In the existing Kiskatinaw seismic monitoring and mitigation area, a shutdown would be triggered by a quake of magnitude 3 or higher within five kilometres of fracking operations.

The threshold is magnitude 4 in the nearby Wonowon-Pink Mountain area, where a new order has been established.

The orders from the energy regulator require real-time seismicity monitoring and the submission of pre-assessments with each notice of operation.

In an emailed statement on Friday, the regulator said the latest "enhancements" were initiated last year and released on Thursday.

It said regulations were enhanced with the removal of any option for a permit holder to request an exception and the removal of discretionary terms, such as "may."

Cassidy says that over the last year, there have been five quakes in the range of magnitude 4 within 100 kilometres of the most recent series, as well as 29 quakes of a magnitude of 3 to 3.9 and 74 with a magnitude of 2 to 2.9.

Magnitude 3 is typically when an earthquake may start to be felt, he adds, depending on proximity to the epicentre.

In 2024, the number of magnitude 3 or higher earthquakes linked to hydraulic fracturing and the underground storage of its wastewater reached a record high in the Montney Formation, a gas-rich area straddling northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta. 

According to monitoring data from Natural Resources Canada, there were 34 recorded earthquakes at magnitude 3 and above (M>3.0) in Montney, more than three times the amount 10 years ago.

There was no reported damage from any of the recent quakes in B.C.