3.5 magnitude earthquake due to mining strikes Sudbury

A seismologist with Earthquakes Canada says two earthquakes in the Sudbury area this week are both related to mining activity.

On Wednesday afternoon, a 2.9 magnitude quake happened 27 kilometres east of Sudbury. Then on Friday morning at 2:23 a.m., a second quake hit 14 kilometres east of Onaping Falls.

"We recorded it as a magnitude 3.5 which means it was seen by almost all of our seismograph stations in eastern Canada," Allison Bent with Earthquakes Canada said.

"Mining activity caused it so what we're recording is the effect of it rather than the activity itself."

Bent says mining related activity in the Sudbury area registers on their equipment a few times a year.

"There's blasting in Sudbury fairly regularly [and] most of the time that's all that is," she said.

"Every once in awhile, it will trigger a small earthquake. It is possible to get completely natural earthquakes there as well but we always try to check in that area because we know there's a mining connection."

Bent says on the scale of earthquakes, neither one this week in Sudbury is considered that big.

"It's definitely big enough that people in the region would feel it," she said."It is not normally big enough to cause damage."

No employees injured, Vale says

A spokesperson with Vale confirmed to CBC Sudbury that both seismic eventsare related to their mines.

Angie Robson says the the first onehappened at the company's Garson Mine on the 5,200 level.

"There was no damage to mobile equipment, although there is some displaced rock that needs to be addressed as well as some repair work to infrastructure in the affected area of the mine," she said.

"We don't expect this to have any material impact to production."

Robson says the second quake happened at Creighton Mine.

"No employees were underground at the time," she said.

"Once the affected area is deemed safe, it will be assessed for any damage that may have occurred as a result of the event."