2015 Oklahoma Earthquake Discussion

[bchris02]

And yet another! WTH! That was the biggest and longest of them all. Swarming earthquakes! No thanks! Seriously.

There must be some serious wastewater injection happening tonight.

[ljbab728]

I'm in NW OKC near 63rd and Meridian and didn't feel a thing.

[clz46]

felt a pretty good jolt at NW Expressway and Rockwell.

[Jim Kyle]

Felt the 00:11 jolt (a 4.2 up near Guthrie) at NW 122 and Council, but none of the other six listed on the "recent quakes" page. Seems that all were around 3 miles down...

[Bunty]

I'm in NW OKC near 63rd and Meridian and didn't feel a thing.

As long as the earthquakes continue to center out in the middle of nowhere while staying weak, don't expect the state to get aggressive in experimenting with ways to try to make them subside. And look near the top of this page. The table hasn't been updated since August, quite a clear symptom to me of Oklahomans becoming more and more complacent of the earthquakes as something serious to be worried about. It would have been interesting to know if the rate of earthquakes of 4.0 or more in magnitude have been going up this year, compared to last. People should get earthquake insurance, if they haven't already, because some people have been experiencing costly damage, up to around $75,000, to their homes in areas where the centers of the earthquakes have been relentlessly persistent, such as between Edmond and Guthrie. It will be a nightmare should a swarm of earthquakes of 4.0+ ever decide to migrate directly under Oklahoma City.

[oklip955]

I'm not sure how many of the over night earthquakes there officially were. I counted 8, the last being around 6 am. These were different,no swaying or rolling just a severe shaking, kind of like being on a paint shaking. The last one left me with a good head ache. I don't know if anyone else didn't get any sleep. I had a long, day long trip to Dallas yesterday without a decent night sleep. Seems to me they are getting worse. I think they were just under my house.

[Easy180]

I guess us south siders get to enjoy tornadoes while north siders have fun with earthquakes. Everyone gets in on the fun!

[Zorba]

I'm not sure how many of the over night earthquakes there officially were. I counted 8, the last being around 6 am. These were different,no swaying or rolling just a severe shaking, kind of like being on a paint shaking. The last one left me with a good head ache. I don't know if anyone else didn't get any sleep. I had a long, day long trip to Dallas yesterday without a decent night sleep. Seems to me they are getting worse. I think they were just under my house.

Yeah, there were 8 on the USGS website. I felt all of them up in North Edmond.

[Zorba]

As long as the earthquakes continue to center out in the middle of nowhere while staying weak, don't expect the state to get aggressive in experimenting with ways to try to make them subside. And look near the top of this page. The table hasn't been updated since August, quite a clear symptom to me of Oklahomans becoming more and more complacent of the earthquakes as something serious to be worried about. It would have been interesting to know if the rate of earthquakes of 4.0 or more in magnitude have been going up this year, compared to last. People should get earthquake insurance, if they haven't already, because some people have been experiencing costly damage, up to around $75,000, to their homes in areas where the centers of the earthquakes have been relentlessly persistent, such as between Edmond and Guthrie. It will be a nightmare should a swarm of earthquakes of 4.0+ ever decide to migrate directly under Oklahoma City.

I agree that people are getting more used to them, but it is ridiculous for the state to do nothing about it man-made earthquakes. Oklahomans' are basically subsidies the companies producing the earthquake by buying their own earthquake insurance and fixing the damage on their own dime. Not to mention that ODOT has push out much higher earthquake standards for bridges, which will significantly increase the cost of road construction throughout the state. All because we are unwilling to pass a law saying you can't run injection wells near faults.

[Bellaboo]

I agree that people are getting more used to them, but it is ridiculous for the state to do nothing about it man-made earthquakes. Oklahomans' are basically subsidies the companies producing the earthquake by buying their own earthquake insurance and fixing the damage on their own dime. Not to mention that ODOT has push out much higher earthquake standards for bridges, which will significantly increase the cost of road construction throughout the state. All because we are unwilling to pass a law saying you can't run injection wells near faults.

If an injection well is within 6 miles of a 4.0 quake, the injection well is shut down.

[Bunty]

I agree that people are getting more used to them, but it is ridiculous for the state to do nothing about it man-made earthquakes. Oklahomans' are basically subsidies the companies producing the earthquake by buying their own earthquake insurance and fixing the damage on their own dime. Not to mention that ODOT has push out much higher earthquake standards for bridges, which will significantly increase the cost of road construction throughout the state. All because we are unwilling to pass a law saying you can't run injection wells near faults.

Oklahoma on record earthquake pace, up 90 percent from over a year ago - Tulsa World: State

[BBatesokc]

Another good sized one just rattled me in my office in East Edmond near 15th and I-35. I think that's the third one I felt today - with this one being the most significant.

The state's nonchalant attitude is going to catch up with us one day.

[Cocaine]

I really hope this wasn't a fore-shock and was just another good sized quake. O well at least we know our politicians will keep repeating what the oil companies tell them to. I guess if you keep repeating the same lies over and over again you can convince yourself that it's true.


M4.1 - 13km NE of Edmond, Oklahoma

[Bunty]

I don't think I'd be very concerned that quakes of 4.0 or over are a cause of concern for a greater quake coming until they go over 4.5, since 4.7 was the foreshock of what came before the record breaking earthquake of 5.6 in 2011.

[oklip955]

They sure seem to be getting stronger at my house east of I-35 and Waterloo. The 4.1 is the first one to knock stuff out of my buffie . If the number of quakes keeps going up, what will it be like in another year? I'm thinking that we may get a real big one soon, I'm not talking 5.0 either.

[zookeeper]

They sure seem to be getting stronger at my house east of I-35 and Waterloo. The 4.1 is the first one to knock stuff out of my buffie . If the number of quakes keeps going up, what will it be like in another year? I'm thinking that we may get a real big one soon, I'm not talking 5.0 either.

Remember the consequences of a 7.0, which is considered possible. From another thread:

A 7.0 quake that with our building standards would be equivalent damage-wise to a 7.8 -8.0 quake in cities on the west coast. The talk of USGS using words like "catastrophic" should be taken seriously. The extremely rare Earthquake Warning that was released (and quickly pulled!) should tell us everything we need to know.

People must realize the power of a 7.0 quake on the Richter Scale. A 7.0 quake would be approximately 75 times more powerful as the 5.6 quake we had in 2011. Can you even imagine 75 times more powerful? 5.6 to 7.0 doesn't sound that much more, but that's the Richter Scale at work. That's why they're using words like catastrophic.

[Bellaboo]

I really think the oil companies could remedy a lot of the problems by building a good sized pipeline out of the heavy fault zone area and move the saltwater 50 miles West and inject where the quake activity is non-existent.

[oklip955]

Up to 17 and counting since about 1030pm about an hour and a half in north east Edmond. This is going to be a long night. I might go out and sleep in my truck. (single cab Ford Ranger) grrrr.

[Mel]

This is why we should not waste a dime on shoring up the capital or any meeting place of our state legislature. maybe a few pieces of cement bouncing off their heads will outweigh the payoffs from the energy and drilling industry.

[oklip955]

They keep coming all night long so far. I cannot get much sleep because of them. This is the worst that I've seen. I grew up in California and this is worst in total number in a short period of time.

[Bunty]

I don't expect the oil companies to do much of anything on their own about the earthquakes. Because to do so implies they are the blame for them, providing evidence of liability for lawsuits against them.

[Bunty]

Dang, another earthquake just happened in Stillwater, and it was definitely stronger than the 2.2 from last night that centered a mile from Stillwater. Even the news guy on Channel 4 just said he noticed it! It will be interesting to see how strong this one turns out.

[Bunty]

It was just a 3.5 centered on the far west side of Stillwater. But gives Stillwater people too good of an idea of what people living between Guthrie and Edmond have been going through.

[Bunty]

Some Facebook comments about the earthquake made from Stillwater:

"The whole Walmart shook! I told my Kids it was momma's fury cause they wouldn't listen! Lol"

"That felt much bigger than a 3.5!! It shook like crazy on the 3rd floor of the life science building!!"

"Holy earthquake batman."

"My apartment shook like crazy! Scared me for a second!"

"Felt really big all the way out here on Airport Road. This is a brick house and it shook the Crap out of it. Lol"

"It sounded like field artillery."

"HUGE quake just hit us in Stillwater! Three booms coming from far away and then in. I was on second floor of home and the whole place continued to move for FAR TOO LONG and felt like it was coming down. We have allowed them to get away with this too long. As I was reeling sideways I noticed our dog Berkeley leaping straight up in the air in alarm. Get those law suits in. It is all they understand."

"It really scared me. There was a loud explosion and the house shook. It lasted longer than other quakes that I have previously felt."

"Hardest one we have felt downtown. Got to stop the disposal and injection wells."

"Was in the middle of seeing my very last patient. Underscored exactly why we are leaving Stillwater."

"Whoa that was a big one at Boomer Lake, 12:15. We had one last night too that shook the house about 9:30 or so."

[SSEiYah]

That one a few minutes ago felt like a 4.5+