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Earthquake in Oklahoma Town
An earthquake of 5.0 magnitude occurred on Sunday, 6 November near the Oklahoma town of Cushing. [wikipedia.org] "[T]he largest crude oil storage facility in the world" lies near the town; a U.S. Geological Survey report [archive.org] published in 2015 had warned of the potential for damaging earthquakes near Cushing. Oklahoma and Kansas have been experiencing numerous earthquakes, mostly minor, since 2009. [wikipedia.org] Figures from ABC News show an increasing frequency of earthquakes:
The USGS recorded 1,010 earthquakes of a magnitude 3.0 or greater in the region last year, nearly three times as many as the 318 temblors of this magnitude in 2009. Oklahoma alone felt 619 quakes of a magnitude 2.8 or larger from January through June of this year.
The strongest recorded in Oklahoma, of magnitude 5.8, happened on 3 September. [wikipedia.org] Underground disposal of waste water from the oil and gas industry is believed to be a cause [usgs.gov] of the seismicity; there is also speculation that hydrofracturing is a factor.
There were minor injuries and several buildings were damaged; no damage has to the area's pipelines has been reported. Schools in the area are to be closed [twitter.com] Monday, so they may be checked for damage.
coverage:
- CBS News [cbslocal.com]
- Reuters via KELO [kelo.com]
- WFAA-TV [wfaa.com]
- NBC News [nbcnews.com]
- ABC News [go.com]
- Chicago Tribune [chicagotribune.com]
- CNBC [cnbc.com]
- UPI [upi.com]
- Kevin Stump [twitter.com] (photo of damage to a building's façade)
- Jacob DeFlitch [twitter.com] (photo of damage to the back of a building)
