Another unusual quake for east of the Rockies which was apparently felt quite far away from the epicenter. Any ETS folks feel it?

http://newsok.com/record-5.6-magnitude-e...ead_story_title


"The largest earthquake ever recorded in the state of Oklahoma struck Saturday night, officials said.

The quake had a magnitude of 5.6, and its epicenter was four miles east of Sparks in Lincoln County, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. The quake hit at 10:53 p.m."

Amazing!

Wow, felt as far away as Illinois? After learning from the recent Virginia quake that the ground towards the east coast is more brittle and transmits shaking further than quakes that happen out West, I was wondering if the same could be said of this Oklahoma quake. I guess the answer is yes.

Drought and dust storms in Texas. Quakes in Oklahoma. What next for that area? Swarms of locust?

Yep, 256 miles away. The aftershocks keep freaking my dogs out.

I envision the last year or so of earthquakes as a run-up to something happening around New Madrid.

My customer started requiring seismic bracing for all equipment racks / cabinets nation wide. Previously it was only on the left coast.

Apparently OK has had over 1000 earthquakes this year compared
to the usual 50. Wonder if all that fracking is lubricating the
plates.

I just saw a piece on ABC News. I assume the announcer was referring to Oklahoma specifically, but he was saying that 2011 was the year of the highest high temp, lowest low temp, highest wind speed, most snowfall, and largest hail--and now, the strongest earthquake ever in Oklahoma. What next for OK?

According to a USGS study, fracking is not involved.

Pretty much the Tornado capital in the US & Now Earthquakes!Heck,what did they do to inherit this?

I live in northwest Arkansas, about 175 miles northeast of the epicenter. I was driving when it struck, so I did even feel it, but Facebook and Twitter lit up.

My wife said it was like a vehicle was outside the house with the base turned WAY UP. Then she heard something fall upstairs. She stood up off and felt the shaking.

This is about the fifth earthquake we've felt here. Having grown up here, pushing five full decades, we've never had quakes before -- at least not like this.

Anyway, no damage around here.

But it sure makes you start rethinking the preparation process.

Link?

What the frick is fracking?

HJ

Hyrraulic Fracturing

This is a process that has been around for AGES, and contrary to all information the enviro/crunchies create to the contrary, it is not going to cause earthquakes. The water was originally in the ground, it is just being put back.

There is a new technology, it is called a search engine. Look it up.

There is a study by the Oklahoma Geological Survey that is in the process of being published that reports a possible link. The lead author was a skeptic that fracking could be linked with any seismic activity, but as he studied the January 18th quake in Oklahoma, he does report a likely correlation between between specific fracking operations and the series of small earthquakes in the vicinity. Correlation does not equal causation, but this seismologist started as a skeptic and this is his conclusion about that particular investigation.

Sorry, I haven't seen the full article, but it was mentioned in a news summary.

Not all earthquakes are the result of movement along geological faults. Some small quakes were attributed to the filling of Lake Mead. I waas surprised to learn that Minnesota had experienced recentearthquakes. It had nothing to do with faults (that part of the continent is extremely stable) but was attributed to crustal unloading as the Pleistocene glaciers melted.

I'm about 60 miles away and we definitely felt it. We had a 4.7 the night before that was really brief but managed to rattle the pictures on the walls for a couple of seconds. The 5.6 was significantly longer in duration and much more impressive. Beyond the damage to the immediate area around the quake I'm aware of one house in Broken Arrow, OK (about 65 miles away) that managed to lose the brick over the garage door opening.

I'm not aware of any injures related to the quake.

Here's a link to the Tulsa CBS affiliates coverage of some of the damage. There are several addition links to related new in the story.

http://www.newson6.com/story/15972590/earthquake-damages-historic-building-at-university-in-shawnee

Okay smart ankle.

Just cause someone says something doesn't mean it's true.

Here is a link for the keyboard cowboy from Texas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14432401

"An independent geological report has found that it is "highly probable" a controversial technique to extract gas, known as fracking, triggered two minor earthquakes on the Lancashire coast earlier this year."

I put my money on the lizard people. They don't appreciate having water fracked into their underground lair, its like the toilet in an upstairs apartment leaking on them. There are accepted protocols for disturbing the lizard people, they are peaceful but if not given the opportunity to move their lizard queen out of harms way, we can't control what their reaction may be.

Lono, I think you're joking there, but let's watch posts like that lest they reflect negatively on a serious forum.

(Deputy) HJ

Thank you - that is indeed an interesting article. This particular 5.6 event does seem to be linked to a specific fault. Oklahoma does have an earthquake history - there was a quake in 1952 of about the same magnitude as this event, along with others throughout the 20th century.

The Central Valley of California has been sinking for years. The Central Valley is a major agricultural region and for a long time, ground water has been pumped out faster than it was being replenished naturally. If there's any place that could cave in during a big earthquake, it would probably be here in California.

However, it's not "fossil" water like the Ogallala and when that's gone, it's gone. China is tapping into her fossil water as her needs expand, and Libya was also building a large project to make the desert bloom, but that might be on hold for the foreseeable future.

Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever read or watched any serious warning about an empty Ogallala ever caving in, though. Maybe it's not really geologically feasible?

I'm no geologist, but when it comes to aquifers, I understand it makes more sense to think of a water saturated gravel bed, and not a vast underground cavern that fill with water, and whose emptiness might make it subject to collapse. Gravel beds can only settle so far when the water comes out of them, how far, well you need to ask a geologist.

That makes sense. Seen too many Hollywood movies about the deep underground, I guess.

I assume you could still get a gradual ground subsidence like in California as the water is pumped out, but even that probably depends on the local geology.

Very good introduction 12 minute video on making an oil/gas well.
Fracing occurs around the 6-minute point.
-Blast

p.s. "Perfing" the well is my favorite part. It goes "BOOM!!!"

I'd love to know what the projected impact of a 8.0ish earthquake on the New Madrid would mean for northeast Oklahoma. The New Madrid would seem to me (who knows nothing about geology) to be the bigger threat.

Great find! Thanks!

This graphic that I had found on Wikipedia was about the only thing I had seen that showed the projected damage "radius".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NMSZ_Vergleich.jpg

The first-person accounts of the New Madrid quakes of 1811-12 are quite vivid.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811_eyewitness.php


Louisville was hit much harder than I thought.

I am reading the accounts of the 1812 earthquake. while it is impressive to read, the verbiage is very nostalgic.

Truly a pleasure to read. and the information is very enlightening.