{"id":54657,"date":"2020-08-14T11:54:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T16:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=54657"},"modified":"2020-08-14T11:54:03","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T16:54:03","slug":"thousands-of-quakes-tied-to-fracking-keep-shaking-the-site-c-dam-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=54657","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Quakes, Tied to Fracking, Keep Shaking the Site C Dam Region"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Thousands of Quakes, Tied to Fracking, Keep Shaking the Site C Dam Region<\/a><\/h3>\n

Several recent reports on the tremors add to concerns about the mega-project\u2019s stability.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n
\"new-site-c-main-image.jpg\"
An artist\u2019s rendering of the Site C Dam upon completion, a vision of the future rattled by thousands of tremors in the region triggered by fracking.\u00a0Image via BC Hydro.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\n

Building the Site C dam in northeastern British Columbia is\u00a0proving<\/a> more difficult than officials predicted due to unstable ground on the northern bank. Adding to concerns: myriad earthquakes.<\/p>\n

For nearly a decade, The Tyee has\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0on a rising number of earthquakes caused by the hydraulic fracturing of shale formations in the region. Now, new studies put the number of such tremors in recent years in the many thousands, raising more worries about the future of the mega-project.<\/p>\n

Researchers warn the shaking could become strong enough to crumble critical infrastructure such as roads, high-rise buildings \u2014 and dams.<\/p>\n

B.C.\u2019s regulatory practices try to limit fracking after small earthquakes have been triggered. But that\u2019s \u201cnot sufficient to protect critical or vulnerable infrastructure that have unacceptable failure consequences,\u201d\u00a0noted<\/a> seismic hazard expert Gail Atkinson in the May 7 issue of Nature Reviews.<\/p>\n

No one can yet predict frack-triggered quakes before they happen, and \u201chazard forecasting\u201d remains a \u201ccritical area of research.\u201d<\/p>\n