“Without studying the specifics of the wastewater injection and oil and gas production in this area, the USGS can not now conclude whether or not this particular natural disaster was caused by industrial-related, human activities”, the agency said in a statement on Saturday.
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But along with the oil and gas come large quantities of brackish water, which is disposed of by injecting it into separate wells that are dug as deep as a mile (kilometer) below ground. The quake was not the first of its kind for the state, but was by far the most severe and noticeable.
It was only the fourth quake in Oklahoma to measure over 5 magnitude, the USGS said.
In addition, regions with frequent induced earthquakes may also be subject to damaging earthquakes that would have occurred independently of human activity, USGS said.
The office of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted that state highway crews were checking for bridge damage and the state Department of Emergency Management would assess damage and determine how to address it. “Larger earthquakes have been at similar depths”.
One person was injured in Saturday’s quake, and at least 14 buildings were damaged, but officials were breathing a sigh of relief that the destruction wasn’t worse.
Only four quakes with a magnitude 5.0 or greater have occurred in the conterminous U.S.in 2016 – today’s 5.6 near Pawnee; a 5.1 February 13, northwest of Fairview; and two in California.
Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said Sunday that emergency officials and the U.S. Geological Survey are examining the area and finding only minor to moderate damage.
In March, the USGS published a report that said fracking was causing man-made earthquakes in parts of the U.S., with northern Oklahoma at particular risk.
“If you’re in a taller building, it’s going to sway a lot more”, he said, explaining the effects of a magnitude-5.6 quake.
“The house cracked and creaked, the fish went insane, the rockers began to rock and then it was over”, said Martha Hall. “Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses”.
Wills said buildings in the downtown area are cracked and sandstone facing on some buildings fell.
There were no immediate reports of injuries in Pawnee, where about 25 percent of the residents are Native Americans.
People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago; Gilbert, Arizona; Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; Memphis, Tennessee; and Big Lake in the southwest part of Texas, all reported feeling the quake.
Alyson Murrow, who lives in Moore, Oklahoma, posted she woke up to “a picture falling off my wall and doors rattling”. “Our pool had waves sloshing around!”
An online Geological Survey map where residents report whether they felt the quake showed dozens of responses in Northwest Arkansas from people who indicated they felt slight shaking.
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The Garfield Furniture building, constructed in 1898 with materials from the old Enid brickyard, is one of the oldest brick buildings in Enid, Frazee said.
