On Saturday and Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey recorded seven small earthquakes in central Oklahoma in the span of just 14 hours.
And no, that seven was not a typo.
According to the USGS, the quakes, recorded between 7:57 p.m. Saturday and 9:51 a.m. Sunday, ranged from magnitude 2.6 to 2.9, and were centered in the Guthrie, Jones, and Langston areas, 15 miles to 30 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
But the most severe shake up registered at 4.3 near Langston, the U.S. Geological Survey site showed, delivering a rumble to Logan County, north of Oklahoma City.
Thankfully, there were no reports of damage or major injury on Saturday, Oklahoma City news station News9 reported.
From CNN:
“Earthquakes are going to be a normal part of everyday life in Oklahoma,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. “They are going to become more and more a part of life there.”
The four quakes that struck Saturday were relatively shallow, happening 5 miles or less from the surface, Myers notes. Larger earthquakes, such as the ones that happen in California, generally go much deeper, sometimes 50 miles deep.
The Oklahoma quakes were strong enough to knock dishes off shelves and cause cracks in foundations but not enough to knock down buildings, Myers said.
As of last month, Oklahoma had surpassed California in the number of earthquakes. Concerned residents in central Oklahoma have said they want to know whether the surge in earthquake activity in the region is caused by oil and gas drilling operations in the area.
Austin Holland, a research seismologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said at the time that the state is experiencing unprecedented earthquake activity and his agency is closely monitoring it to determine whether the earthquakes are a natural phenomenon or are man-made.
Holland said the same drilling methods have been used in the state for years but that frequent earthquakes did not become a problem until after 2009.
Fracking or hydraulic fracturing may be the cause of the increased number of earthquakes, but there’s no way to be sure until the USGS files its findings next month.
SOURCE: CNN, Huffington Post | VIDEO SOURCE: CNN
