Source analysis of a potential hydraulic-fracturing-induced earthquake near Fox Creek, Alberta

Abstract

An earthquake with a reported magnitude of 4.4 (ML) was detected on 13 June 2015 in western central Alberta, Canada. This event was the third felt earthquake this year near Fox Creek, a shale gas exploration region. Our results from full moment tensor inversions of regional broadband data show a strong strike-slip mechanism with near-vertical fault plane solutions. The decomposition of the moment tensor solution is overwhelmingly double couple, while only a modest (∼20%) contribution is attributed to compensated-linear-vector-dipole. The depth of this earthquake is 3-4 km, near the base of the sedimentary layer, and the moment magnitude (M = 3.9) of this event is considerably smaller than the initial reported ML value. The hypocenter location, depth, and mechanism are favorable to a possible association between this earthquake and hydraulic fracturing operations within the Duvernay shale.