Oklahoma Shaken by 5.6 Magnitude Quake

Strongest on Record in Oklahoma

U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that the latest in a series of earthquakes in Oklahoma is the strongest ever recorded in the state.

According to USGS , the earthquake that struck at 10:53 p.m. Saturday was upgraded to a magnitude 5.6 after early calculations listed it as a 5.2. The epicenter is four miles east of Sparks in Lincoln County, 21 miles northeast of Shawnee.

Lincoln County Emergency Management is reporting significant damage in the southern parts of the county. In some cases chimneys have collapsed through the roofs of homes. Air conditioning ducts collapsed through the ceiling at the Prague library.

Several roadways have buckled, including Highway 62 near County Road 3470 and other county roads.

About the same size (a hair smaller) than the quake that hit Virginia in August this year.  While we suffered no damage to speak of, Washington D.C. suffered significant building damage and the Washington Monument remains closed while they try to figure out how to repair it.

It comes after a shocking 4.8 earthquake that occurred in the early morning hours Saturday near Prague, Okla.

Aftershocks were felt for hours following Saturday's first quake, which Amie Gibson, a research scientist for the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said was the strongest to hit the state in nearly sixty years.

That is, until this most recent quake.

Gibson said Saturday that aftershocks from the first earthquake could occur for days.

If you felt the quake, you can help the USGS out by reporting it here.

 

Blogger friend Maggie from Maggie's Notebook experienced the quake, and wrote:

I was sitting at my desk when we had a 5.6 magnitude earthquake. I’ve never felt anything like it. It was long, at least a minute I think. My computer was jumping up and down, and it felt like the vibration of a huge boom box right outside my office window. At some point, my front door, which is just outside my office door, sounded like something was coming through it. It was a sound I haven’t heard before. I ran to the bedroom calling my husband, and get this, he was standing by a chest holding my perfume bottles (on a little crystal tray) steady. As I ran to find him, I could hear glass in my sideboard and china cabinet rattle, and our grandfather clock, which hasn’t worked in years, chimed or the pendulums were just in agony and letting me know.

Sounds like they've had a series of earthquakes of which this has been the biggest.  Let's hope the record stands for a while.