ABSTRACT

Structures which originated as a result of salt-solution and collapse are frequently encountered in the sedimentary section of Saskatchewan. A few writers, however, consider that some of these are caused primarily by deep-seated faulting. Kupsch (1957) introduced the May 15, 1909 earthquake to support the fault theory, first proposed by Fraser et al. (1935), Wickenden and Graham (1937) and also favoured by Edie (1956) to explain the structures encountered in the Avonlea area. According to Sawatzky et al. (1959), the correlation of all the available geophysical and subsurface geological data in this vicinity appear to refute any faulting between Bearpaw and post-Middle Devonian horizons. More recently the earthquake story was again invoked by Haites (1959) to prove the existence of faulting in the Avonlea area.

The purpose of the present paper is to enumerate all possible facts concerning the earthquake of May 15, 1909, and thereby let the reader decide where the shock originated, its intensity, and what implications it may have had with regard to the structures encountered in the Avonlea area.