At 4:10 AM on April 29, 1903, the eastern face of Turtle Mountain in southwestern Alberta suddenly broke apart and came crashing down toward the small mining town of Frank below. In less than 2 minutes, an estimated 110 million tonnes of limestone, according to the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre , tore across the valley at speeds estimated at 70 to 75 miles per hour, burying buildings, railway tracks and part of the town beneath a huge field of shattered rock. Frank was home to around 600 people, with roughly 100 living directly in the path of the slide. Between 70 and more than 90 people are believed to have died, although only a small number of bodies were recovered. The disaster became Canada's deadliest recorded rockslide, and more than 120 years later, the remains of the original settlement are still buried beneath the rubble. The mountain itself was permanently changed, leaving behind a scar that remains visible today.
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