PAWNEE, Oklahoma- The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is telling operators to shut down 35 disposal wells that may have played a role in a 5.6-magnitude quake that shook at least six states Saturday, Gov. Mary Fallin said.
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The Oklahoma Corporation Commission says the moratorium area includes 211 square miles of Osage County, which is in the Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdiction.
There are now three buildings with moderate damage, he said, as well as several others with minor damage where access has been blocked until a structural engineer can determine whether or not they are safe.
Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell says a man protecting his child suffered a head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him. He was treated and released, a Pawnee County Emergency Management spokesman said.
For comparison, the two highest-magnitude quakes in the states registered almost 8 on the Richter scale in 1811 and 1812 in the New Madrid, Missouri, area.
The quake struck at 7:02 AM central time about nine miles south-west of Pawnee, Oklahoma.
The magnitude 5.6 quake, which was felt from South Dakota to Texas, prompted the closure of some 35 wastewater disposal wells in the area, officials said.
Over the past few years since fracking to tap underground gas and oil has increased, Oklahoma and also Kansas, have experienced sharp increases in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes. Many people also report feeling tremors in the St. Louis area. Its epicenter was about 9 miles northwest of the town of Pawnee and some 73 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. Since mid-2015, the state has ordered operators of some to reduce the volume of wastewater injected, in the hope of reducing earthquakes.
Mary Fallin has declared a state of emergency in Pawnee County after a magnitude 5.6 quake struck northwest of Pawnee. Kansas moved quickly to limit volume in wastewater disposal wells, while Oklahoma concentrated on the depth of the disposal.
“We’re just trying to determine just how widespread” the damage is, Randell said.
With earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, “the ground is softer, so the seismic waves have a much farther travel distance then an natural disaster in California or Nevada”, said another USGS geophysicist, Robert Sanders. Kansas saw a 60 percent drop while the frequency of quakes in Oklahoma continued to climb.
“It produces earthquakes but it is not hugely active”, Buchanan said.
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.
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Stonework litters the sidewalk outside an empty jewelry store Saturday at the corner of Sixth and Harrison in Pawnee, Okla., after a 5.6 quake struck near the north-central Oklahoma town.
