South Peace Historical Society

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  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

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BN17-15: Seismologists in Peace Setting up Temporary Monitor

Recent Items – 2001

April 20, 2001

DAWSON CREEK — Two seismologists are in the Peace setting up temporary monitors that will help them determine the cause of Friday evening’s earthquake.

Paul Street and Fiona Darbyshire, who work for the Geological Survey of Canada, figure that the epicentre is about 40 km. northeast of Dawson Creek, or about 10 km. north of Bonanza.

“We’ve set up one near where our best estimate is of the epicentre and we want to set up a couple of others within 20-25 kilometres of that as well,” Street said Thursday.

The earthquake measured 5.4 magnitude with accompanying aftershocks of 3.2 and 2.5 on the Richter scale over the long weekend.

Street said the monitors should remain in place for about a month. “And then we’ll come back and collect the data, and the processing after that should be within several weeks back at the office,” he said.

The Peace is not on the nation’s system of permanent stations. Street said they’re sent out about five times a year on average to investigate earthquakes that occur off the main grid.

The peace region lies on the Cordillera region about central to the northern and south areas.

The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 6.9 in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories in 1985. The Valemont area of the Southern Corderilla was host to a 6.0 earthquake in 1918.

This article is taken from the Peace River Block Daily News, Dawson Creek, with the permission of the publisher. The Daily News retains all rights relating to this material. The information in this article is intended solely for research or general interest purposes.

« BN17-14: Earthquake Hits Northern BC, Alberta

BN17-16: Work Begins on Creating South Peace Bird Atlas »

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