Whole Lot O' Shakin' Goin' On!

For a bunch of folks who spend their summers chasing some of the nastiest storms on the planet, a little shake and rattle really freaks them out.  No, I didn't feel the temblors.  I was out on the rig. There is noise and vibration from the drilling and the wind shakes the trailer almost constantly.  The closest thing I can feel to an earthquake out here is the ground shaking if they get the pipe stuck and set off the jars.  We have little earthquakes in Oklahoma, mostly so small they are not even detected, or at least, not recognized for what they are.  There is a long fault line that runs down the center of the state, from up in Kansas to north Texas.  The one that is causing the current flurry is a much shorter line about half way between Tulsa and OKC.  There was a quake on this fault last fall that I did feel at home.  The one that is most widely known in the state is in the southwest corner in the Wichita Mountains near Meers, not too far from the Ft Sill Army base.

This 5.6 quake was the largest ever in the state.  Before last night, the largest was a 5.3 at El Reno in 1952.  

      Oklahoma Hit With 10 Aftershocks Following 5.6-Magnitude Earthquake

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake and its aftershocks still had residents rattled Sunday. No injuries were reported, and aside from a buckled highway and the collapse of a tower on the St. Gregory's University administration building, neither was any major damage. But the weekend earthquakes were among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity.

Oklahoma typically had about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked, and 1,047 quakes shook the state last year, prompting researchers to install seismographs in the area.

Still, most of the earthquakes have been small.

Saturday night's big one jolted Oklahoma State University's stadium shortly after the No. 3 Cowboys defeated No. 17 Kansas State. Fans were still leaving the game.

"That shook up the place, had a lot of people nervous," Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon said.  (click the link to read the entire story from the AP)