5.4 magnitude quake hits western N.W.T

The Geological Survey of Canada says a 5.4 magnitude earthquake shook part of the Mackenzie mountain range Sunday evening.

Its epicentre was about 200 kilometres south of Norman Wells, N.W.T.,and about 137 kilometres west of Wrigley, N.W.T.,in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories.

Experts with the survey say the Mackenzie Mountains are an active area, with earthquakes of this size happening every two to five years.

Garry Rogers is a seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

"We actually dont have a lot of seismographs in that region, so we only really detect the bigger ones," he says. "But we still detect well below what people will feel and its a really busy earthquake area, comparable to the coastal region."

No one the CBC spoke to Monday had noticed the quake.

There was a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the Mackenzie mountain range in 1985, which was felt as far away as B.C. and Alberta.