By Brenna Owen -CP-The British Columbia Energy Regulator has toughened its oversight of what it calls “induced” seismic activity after a series of earthquakes linked to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the northeastern corner of the province. John Cassidy, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said the regulator had confirmed that four quakes recorded 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 said 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…
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