Oklahoma shaken by series of earthquakes
Source: Agencies |
November 8, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
OKLAHOMA residents in the US more accustomed to tornadoes than earthquakes have been shaken by weekend temblors that cracked buildings and rattled nerves. One quake late on Saturday was the state's strongest ever and jolted a college football stadium 80 kilometers away.
Two minor injuries were reported by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. And apart from a buckled highway and the collapse of a tower on St Gregory's University administration building in Shawnee, no major damage was reported.
The magnitude 5.6 earthquake was Oklahoma's strongest on record, according to Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.
Centered near Sparks, 71km northeast of Oklahoma City, it could be felt throughout the state, and in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, northern Texas and some parts of Illinois and Wisconsin. It followed a magnitude 4.7 quake early on Saturday that was felt from Texas to Missouri.
The weekend earthquakes are among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity. Oklahoma typically experienced about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked - 1,047 shook the state last year, prompting researchers to install seismographs in the area. Most quakes have been small.
Geologists now believe a magnitude 4.7 earthquake on Saturday was a foreshock to the bigger one that followed that night. They recorded 10 aftershocks by midmorning on Sunday and expected more. Two of the aftershocks, at 4am and 9am, were big, at magnitude 4.0.
Two minor injuries were reported by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. And apart from a buckled highway and the collapse of a tower on St Gregory's University administration building in Shawnee, no major damage was reported.
The magnitude 5.6 earthquake was Oklahoma's strongest on record, according to Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.
Centered near Sparks, 71km northeast of Oklahoma City, it could be felt throughout the state, and in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, northern Texas and some parts of Illinois and Wisconsin. It followed a magnitude 4.7 quake early on Saturday that was felt from Texas to Missouri.
The weekend earthquakes are among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity. Oklahoma typically experienced about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked - 1,047 shook the state last year, prompting researchers to install seismographs in the area. Most quakes have been small.
Geologists now believe a magnitude 4.7 earthquake on Saturday was a foreshock to the bigger one that followed that night. They recorded 10 aftershocks by midmorning on Sunday and expected more. Two of the aftershocks, at 4am and 9am, were big, at magnitude 4.0.
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