Skinner insists Oklahoma’s earthquakes are not directly caused by fracking, but he does agree that the pressure from the disposal wells used to get rid of toxic wastewater from fracking may be the problem. According to earthquaketrack.com, there were 15 earthquakes today in the state, 114 in the past month, and 2,506 in the past year.
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“That fault zone is really well known in Kansas because it produced one of the largest earthquakes that has ever been noted in the state which is about a 5 point 3 in 1867”, Buchanan said.
A magnitude-5.6 quake – matching the strongest temblor to ever hit the state – struck north central Oklahoma on Saturday morning and could be felt over a seven-state area, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. Its epicenter was about 9 miles northwest of the town of Pawnee and some 73 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
Fallin issued a declaration of emergency for Pawnee County to start the process of “helping individuals, families and businesses impacted by the earthquakes” and help them request any necessary assistance. Randell said the man was treated at a hospital and released.
This is Oklahoma’s strongest quake since November 2011, and experts say it may tie the largest recorded in state history.
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.
The governor of Oklahoma has declared a state of emergency for Pawnee County following a magnitude 5.6 quake that occurred early Saturday morning.
The quake was felt in at least six states, and prompted the temporary shutdown of nearby disposal wells for wastewater produced by oil and gas drilling. State and local emergency management officials and officials from the U.S. Geological Survey assessed damage Sunday, according to Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell.
A state of emergency was declared in Pawnee, Oklahoma, after a record-tying magnitude 5.6 natural disaster – which could be felt as far as Chicago – rattled the county Saturday morning.
The U.S.G.S. also reports a 3.6 magnitude aftershock in the same area at 7:58 a.m.
“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.
Fallin tweeted Saturday morning that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is checking bridges in the Pawnee area for damage. “It was just about time that a lot of us were waking up, and those who were not already awake certainly were awakened by the quake”.
No damage was reported in the Norman and Moore area. Therefore, the quake, that was centered in the rural areas of Pawnee County, was also felt over a wide range that spanned from Nebraska to North Texas.
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Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk. “We don’t know specifically whether this (quake) was caused by that”.
