Second largest earthquake in Oklahoma history rouses people from their sleep as far away as Kansas City, Mo.
A 4.7-magnitude earthquake – felt in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas – rattled homes across central Oklahoma early Saturday morning.
Oklahoma Earthquake - 5 Nov 11 - Source: USGS
According to the USGS, the initial quake, centered about six miles north of Prague, struck at about 2:12 a.m.
Moments later a 3.4- and a 2.7-magnitude aftershock struck about five miles southeast of Sparks.
The quakes continued with a 3.6 magnitude temblor shortly after 8:30 a.m.
The National Weather Service in Norman said via its Facebook page the earthquake was felt in Norman and also as far away as weather offices in Topeka, Kansas and Pleasant Hill, Missouri.
Read more in the Oklahoma news:
http://newsok.com/multiple-earthquakes-felt-across-oklahoma-region/article/3620538?custom_click=headlines_widget
Weather Channel says quake was 2nd largest in Oklahoma history:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/oklahoma-earthquake-2-largest-in-ok_2011-11-05
http://news.yahoo.com/usgs-3-earthquakes-recorded-okla-085523166.html
Thanks to Jay Curtis and Robert Stom for these links
Oklahoma earthquake swarm
“There’s a bit more to this story,” says Jay.“The Oklahoma Geological Survey has catalogued a record number of small earthquakes over the past year or so. An interview with an Oklahoma Geological Survery seismologist named Austin Holland appeared on the Oklahoma News 9 website in June in which Holland discussed the “uptick” in earthquakes in central Oklahoma. The article said:
“The small town of Jones (pop. 2517), in eastern Oklahoma County (about 14 miles northeast of downtown Oklahoma City) has been at the center of an unusual surge in seismic activity over the past 18 months.
“According to the Geological Survey, there were a total of six earthquakes in Oklahoma County from 2000 through 2008. The uptick began in 2009, when monitoring equipment recorded 31 earthquakes in the county. Over the ensuing 15 months — January 2010 through March 2011 — Holland says there were 850 earthquakes, just in Oklahoma County.
‘To put that into perspective,’ Holland said, ‘the most earthquakes we’d ever recorded in a single year in [the entire state of] Oklahoma was 167.
“Although the majority were small quakes, that’s a 5-fold increase in Oklahoma County over the most ever recorded IN THE ENTIRE STATE in a single year!”
Here is the link to the News 9 story:
http://www.news9.com/story/14858313/ok-earthquake-swarm-lots-of-data-but-few-answers
12 Responses to Earthquake, aftershocks felt across Oklahoma
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Information from the Leonard Geophysical Observatory of the Oklahoma Geophysical Survey.
The Oklahoma Geological Survey Observatory in rural Tulsa County, south of Leonard is a comprehensive
geophysical observatory which records, identifies, and locates 50 to 167 earthquakes in Oklahoma each year, and also records at least seven worldwide earthquakes per day.
The MOST probable cause of Oklahoma’s increased quake activity is probably the massive escalation of unconventional gas drilling aka “Hydraulic Fracturing” or “Fracking”.
The United States Geological Survey has released a report that links a series of earthquakes in Oklahoma last January to a fracking operation underway there. Evidently, a resident reported feeling some minor earthquakes, spurring the USGS to investigate. They found that some 50 small earthquakes had indeed been registered, ranging in magnitude from 1.0 to 2.8. The bulk of these occurred within 2.1 miles of Eola Field, a fracking operation in southern Garvin County
http://www.ogs.ou.edu/pubsscanned/openfile/OF1_2011.pdf
This report cam after Cuadrilla Resources, a British energy company, recently admitted, after its operations were investigate, that its hydraulic fracturing operations “likely” caused around 50 tremors in the North-West of England last year.
“…caused by an “unusual combination of geology at the well site coupled with the pressure exerted by fracking”
Out here in West Virginia, fracking operations started in Braxton County in 2009. A town in Braxton County called Frametown is home to holding tanks that store water used in hydraulic fracturing, operations. The West Virginia DEP has permitted Chesapeake Energy to use a nearby underground well to dispose of the waste chemicals. About ten million gallons of waste chemicals have been pumped into the well since the spring of 2009.. and with NO recorded history of seismic activity, quakes suddenly started in Braxton County in 2010. During 2010, 10 quakes were recorded. The largest of these was 3.4 and the smallest 2.2. For anyone who is interested in one of the possible consequences of fracking.. earthquakes, this is viewed from a local perspective in this nice little report: http://www.wvsoro.org/news/2010/08_27.html
Caroline;
The theory that “fracking” has anything to do with these earthquakes is still speculative. The article you cite about Braxton VA says as much.
Also, from the News 9 web piece, the Seismologist, Austin Holland is quoted as saying of the Oklahoma quakes:
“It continues to be a possibility,” Holland admitted, “but the connections are weak, and it would take much more research and a greater understanding of what’s going on in the sub-surface to begin to attribute this to oil and gas activities.”
That doesn’t explain the drastic increase in earthquakes, volcanic activity and torrential rains around the world. Something much, much worse is happening than explaining it away with mere fracking.
Most all these quakes relate to a natural cycle of earthquake activity. In 1812 or so (can’t remember the exact year) we had a huge New Madrid Fault zone quake that destroyed several cities. Thousands died. Happened all in the past and this time it’s likely no different. These earthquakes, here in the US and elsewhere, have occurred for millions of years. The Earth’s magnetic field also correlates with earthquake activity. It’s a cycle !
Sure, but THIS cycle is one none of us wanted to see. And just because it’s a cycle doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned and getting prepared for worse to come.
fema recently ran ads asking for supply of emergency good, ie water mre foil blankets etc to the tune of 10million for 7 days supply, oh and local fuel.
specifically for the Madrid Fault line area, then shortly after they had a gabfest and planning/trial run..
now you have some fools wanting to ramrod a huge oil supply line right through that very area…and the govt will probably let them.
disasters are so often if not man made, then man Assisted to be worse!
you build hirise towns in flood plains ,or on storm prone beaches and expect to never have loss of life and property?
the prime one was bush allowing the biolabs, seriously harmful in disasters, to be built in Cyclone alley, yeah right…thats real smart…Fail!
Another strong earthquake struck central Oklahoma on Nov. 5 at 10:53 p.m. CDT, nearly nine hours after the opne referred to in the article above. The USGS is reporting it as a magnitude 5.6 earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in state history. The previous record holder was a 5.5 magnitude earthquake recorded in El Reno in 1952.
I remember when I was going thru basic training at Ft
Ord, CA. One night we had a small eathquake by California standards. But it totally freaked out this guy from the mid-west.People on the West Coast are so use to earthquake that anything under a 6.0 doesn’t concern them. The people back east now that is a different matter. They have not planned or taken steps to prepare for a earthquake. They are specially not ready for a tusnami like the West Coast is. I don’t ever remember the East Coast getting hit with a tusnami in my life time.
Actaually last night at about 10 30 PM they just had a 5.6 there in OK http://newsok.com/record-5.6-magnitude-earthquake-shakes-oklahoma/article/3620706?custom_click=lead_story_title
“Somethin’s Happenin’ Here …. What it is Ain’t Exactly Clear ….” LoL
It has been almost exactly 200 years since the New Madrid quakes occurred in 1811/1812. I am unaware of any periodicity with that fault.. can someone enlighten me?
New Scientist has a fairly detailed report on the UK quakes
HOW FRACKING CAUSED EARTHQUAKES IN THE UK
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21120-how-fracking-caused-earthquakes-in-the-uk.html
I think the key point for me is this: “The Cuadrilla report says the earthquakes occurred because of a rare combination of circumstances: the fault was already under stress, was brittle enough to fracture and had space for large amounts of water (diluted chemical waste) that could lubricate it..”
.. and Cuadrilla admit that because their activities caused the quakes, they have to start investing in quake monitoring equipment at their sites:
“Cuadrilla is proposing to monitor seismic activity around its fracking site. If earthquakes begin to occur, it could reduce the flow of water into the well, or even pump it back out, preventing the bigger quakes. Baptie says such monitoring is now necessary to avoid further quakes at fracking sites.”
So.. this is what probably happened in Braxton County. And.. you know what? They stopped pumping waste frack fluids into the abandoned well.. and the quakes stopped!
I would hazard a guess that seismic activity IS facilitated/enhanced by fracking operations.