Where are you?

My husband and son are in Dallas today, visiting from MD, and felt the quake there. Dh is a native Californian so he knew what it was right away.

Is there fracking in OK?

I believe there is fracking in OK. It really needs to stop.

That was something wasn't it, Prairiemom? I was making the bed and the crystal chandelier hanging over it began rattling so hard I was afraid the whole thing was going to come down! It was the strongest one I've felt so far ... and it just kept shaking.

Yes, Maddielee, there's plenty of fracking in Oklahoma, but the leading theory is that it is all the wastewater from oil and gas production (fracked and otherwise) being injected deep into the ground that it triggering the earthquakes.

We're in NE Kansas. No damage, just something that most of us here have never experienced. Yes it's caused by dumping water used to extract oil and gas. I feel for the folks living in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.

I'm in the OKC area and it was definitely felt here!!! Also about 100 miles away, it was pretty stout. No damage.... from this one anyway.

edited to clarify -- no damage to OUR home. Lots of damage elsewhere.

I haven't heard from my son north of Dallas, but I'm guessing he slept through it. He was scheduled to work until 11 and he has been asked to stay late a lot. Have only ready about some buildings damaged and nothing too bad. Hope that's the extent of it. Buildings in TX and OK were built for wind issues -- not ground movement. The brick we use so much crumbles in earthquakes.

I'm right outside OKC, and our dog's started barking like crazy about 15 seconds before it hit. We've still got some damage from the last one.

Yes, there is fracking in OK., and the quakes are caused by the disposing of salt water which comes from fracking. They take the salt water to another location (many many locations here) and fiercely inject it into the Earth which causes the earthquakes.

All saltwater disposal wells in the vicinity of the epicenter were shut down today.

OK. gets a few earthquakes every day, it's awful.

Glad you all are ok! DD, who lives in Norman, OK, is actually down in Houston this weekend for the big OU game there. Whatever the cause of all these Oklahoma earthquakes, I wish someone would wise up and stop whatever is causing them. I love Oklahoma and hate to see this happening thrre.

Maybe Oklahoma voters will vote Fallin out of office next time. She signed the bill banning towns from banning fracking. Wonder if your legislature will overturn their own law.

Cyn, thankfully this is MF's last term. She, along with local media kept mum for years on the earthquakes being related to the oil and gas industry. Even geologists kept mum until enough was enough and it was finally exposed as being the culprit.

The O&G industry is the main source of income for Oklahoma. This is the typical damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. So many people have already lost their jobs, whether executive levels or oil field due to low gas prices. It's getting dire here that's for sure!

I would vote to re-train those O/G folks in renewable energy.

I am glad everyone is okay, though.

I definitely hope this is a wake-up call to the O&G folks who are creating this havoc. There have been warnings for years about what damage these processes could do. I know it's a sad situation for those employed. Glad to hear everyone has checked in here & is ok. Although I think there were some injuries and lots of property damage in general.

I've posted this before. Still it's pretty amazing.

What do the dots represent?

The dots are where the earthquakes are. The local news said last year Oklahoma had around 700-800 earthquakes. Unheard of! During the night we had two of them within an hour of each other, both 3. - something.

OMG, Oakley!

Dear Lord! Up here in the Tundra (Fargo, ND), I've never felt one! I wish the "Shake, Rattle & Roll" situation in OK would stop for you Ok-ies!

3 yrs ago, we stayed in OKC when we were driving to Dallas/Frisco in early Jan for the NCAA Football Championship. Didn't feel anything then however...

Faron

Thanks Oakley, do you know what the different sizes and colors of the dots represent? (that's a lot of earthquakes)!

Just by looking at the map, I'm thinking the darker orange dots are the strongest.

I forgot to mention this, but I'm one of the handful of people who didn't feel the earthquake! I was in the office sitting in a swivel chair emptying trash. I spilled some trash onto the floor so I was bent down and I guess swiveling a bit. That's when I heard the dogs bark, and a few seconds later DH comes and asks me if I felt the earthquake, then the phone started ringing.

Darn! Actually they're scary and I'm glad I didn't feel it. DH was on the other side of the house. DS who lives next door said his chandelier kept swinging for a long time. Everyone on FB felt it but me. lol

CBS news just said we had 900 earthquakes last year. Whoa.

Wow! OK=900....ND=0 (I THINK...)

There's been lots of drilling in W ND, tapered off a lot the last year + though, some fracking, but I don't know if W ND has had any quakes?!??

Faron

Interesting that the OCC put a halt on over 700 groundwater dumping wells yesterday. The saltwater that comes out with fracking the oil and gas is full of heavy metals so they inject it back into these wells. But now they're closed for the immediate future. Hopefully no more quakes.

For Faron and others, if you want to search earthquake activity in your locale, or anywhere in the world, the USGS has a cool map that allows you to do so

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

Use the settings in the upper right to search for big, small, etc, quakes.

On the map that Annie posted, the size of the dot relates to the size of the quake. The color is usually related to how long ago it happened.

I agree this is a wake up call! Congress has managed to set things up so that fracking cannot be overseen by any Federal agency. There can be state-level regulations only. So, Oklahoma, how's that working out for you? It will be interesting to see how it shakes out (pun intended) and if there are policy changes because of this.

Glad everyone is in good shape, and that pets and chandeliers are all OK!

Wow!

After playing around with that link, that OK cluster is quite dense!!!
30days quakes....

Faron

According to the news tonight, we should expect a bigger one. This latest quake somehow uncovered a new fault line.