Hey Oaklahoma PSers... are you OK?

[Gypsy]

Sorry, couldn't resist the pun -- but you all are NOT used to earthquakes out there so you must be freaking! Hope everyone is unharmed!

 

[VRBeauty]

An earthquake in OK???? What on earth is happening?

 

[minmin001]

wow, hope everyone is ok there.. Think we had a 4.8 one in TX few weeks ago which is also weird..

 

[ksinger]

Yeah, we're OK. Strongest quake ever (I hear) recorded here though - 5.6. We were of course in bed, but it woke us up pretty abruptly, and dang was that sucker loud. Taking into account that we were both pretty out of it, we had time to comment about it, and notice the silence when it stopped, so I'm figuring it lasted at least 20 seconds, maybe more. Nothing out of cabinets or off shelves, so that's good.

I read that it struck 4 miles east of Sparks. That got a chuckle, because 30 years ago, my husband and I used to go out to Sparks to a friend's land, and do all sorts of target practice. The sign as you drove out there said "Sparks - 5 miles. End of road - 5 miles." Sparks was beyond a sleepy little farm town, it was virtually non-existent. I hear it has experienced a renaissance of sorts, but still. This is likely the most exciting thing that has happened near Sparks...ever.

I know Oklahoma is not the geological backwater that we here like to pretend it is, and that we DO have faults, but there IS a lot of speculation that some of these quakes we've been having recently, east of the OKC metro, are from the drilling that is going on there....

 

[Okie_girl]

Chiming in from OKC....I gotta say, it WAS pretty freaky! Strong enough to rattle the house pretty good. Seemed like it went on forever! My cats and dogs freaked out, took a little while to calm them (and me) down. I have a lot of my mother's and grandmother's dishes, and oddly enough, that's what I was worried about during the whole thing. But, no damage, thank goodness.

Thanks for checking on us Okies, Gypsy!

 

[ksinger]

Wonder if Uppy and OUPeargirl felt it....

 

[Okie_girl]

Wonder if Uppy and OUPeargirl felt it....

I'll bet they did...I have friends in Tulsa and in NW Arkansas who felt it.

 

[Amys Bling]

hope all are ok!

 

[ksinger]

No severe injuries reported, so people seem OK. I'm MUCH more concerned about the structural integrity of our bridges after such a quake. All I-40 bridges and elevated sections are scary as hell, to be honest. They can't GET that thing rebuilt fast enough to suit me. I go under it daily on my way to work, and one day fairly recently they had the inner lane under the bridge, closed. Caused a nice little jam as you might imagine, but as I was going under I could see chunks in the closed lane and looking up, could see blue sky through the bridge deck. Sobering.

I avoid I-40 Eastbound whenever I can. They are redoing it, but again, not fast enough....

 

[ame]

Oh my god. Im glad everyone is ok! This does not make me comfy, living in STL, where we are WAY due for a MAJOR earthquake.

 

[Gypsy]

I am glad there were no injuries or even property damage to any PSers!

I would be TOTALLY freaked about the roads too Ksinger!

DUST FOR ALL.

 

[ame]

No severe injuries reported, so people seem OK. I'm MUCH more concerned about the structural integrity of our bridges after such a quake. All I-40 bridges and elevated sections are scary as hell, to be honest. They can't GET that thing rebuilt fast enough to suit me. I go under it daily on my way to work, and one day fairly recently they had the inner lane under the bridge, closed. Caused a nice little jam as you might imagine, but as I was going under I could see chunks in the closed lane and looking up, could see blue sky through the bridge deck. Sobering.

I avoid I-40 Eastbound whenever I can. They are redoing it, but again, not fast enough....

We had a whole huge chunk of one of our overpasses on 55 just fall off and land in the highway, thankfully NO ONE got hurt. It fell literally 2 minutes after I went under it too! They just rebuilt it, only a year and a half later.

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, I had no idea and am glad everyone seems okay.

I live in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area right near the Hayward Fault, which they say is way overdue for the Big One. For the past few weeks, we have been woken up regularly by small earthquakes on the Hayward Fault, what the experts call a "swarm." I am so afraid this means the Big One is on its way...

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Earthquakes on Saturday, tornado on Monday. What a weird week!

This earthquake was really weird. Everything was just swaying slowly for about 20 seconds. At first I thought someone bumped into our table. We were on Campus Corner in Norman, and afterward there were a lot more cracks in the sidewalk.. Crazy!

There was one about 6 months ago that was much quicker paced and really scary.

 

[Okie_girl]

Well, we had another one about an hour ago. This one was only a 4.7 and didn't last nearly as long as the one Saturday night did. But, in the middle of a thunderstorm?!!!! Lightening bolt, crack of thunder, and earthquake all at the same time. That's not right.

 

[ksinger]

Well, we had another one about an hour ago. This one was only a 4.7 and didn't last nearly as long as the one Saturday night did. But, in the middle of a thunderstorm?!!!! Lightening bolt, crack of thunder, and earthquake all at the same time. That's not right.

LOL! Yeah, my husband and I go to bed pretty early (we're early risers) and we had just turned in and there it went. This time we were awake enough to really notice all the details. You could feel our whole house sway and shift back and forth. I have to say though, I'm extremely pleased (for the umpteenth time) that our house is on a conventional foundation and not a slab, and has wood floors. Not even the 5.6 the other night, knocked anything loose.

It was shorter than the other one, but we laid there for a sec, (it was lightning and pouring outside) and then I said, "OK...well....maybe this IS the apocalypse." And then we both busted out laughing.

 

[ksinger]

The jury is still out, say they. But I can tell ya, heads are gonna roll in future if there is even a whiff that the USGS ends up covering up a causal connection due to pressure from the oil and gas industry. There are 181 injection wells in the area experiencing the quakes....



http://coloradoindependent.com/105102/oklahoma-earthquakes-raise-more-questions-about-hydrofracking-injection-wells