Oklahoma Earthquake Activity

[Thunder]

Maybe they'll find a new volcano brewing?

[venture]

I think after 550 million years since the last time, we should be safe from anymore magma boiling up in the state.

[Doug Loudenback]

I hadn't noticed this thread you started, venture79, until this morning. "Wow," is all I can say. I had no idea. Thanks for all the good info you've provided, and others as well. Keep it up, please.

[Bunty]

There's a page that lists recent earthquakes on a magnitude greater than 2.0 in the Oklahoma area here: Oklahoma Earthquake Page

[westsidesooner]

It'll be interesting if they ever find out the cause of the earthquake swarm. R we sure its not the begining fo the trouble caused by the galactic alignment scheduled for 2012? (actually I heard that already happened a few years back but I'm sure the doomsdayers will run with it) lol Had to throw that in.

I think the earth still has a lot of mysteries in store for us.....it's what makes life interesting.

[rcjunkie]

It's the start of the end, remember the world's come to an end on Dec. 12th, 2012. I'm prepared, bags are packed, I have an extra battery for my laptop and a case of Mountain Dew---let's go

[venture]

It'll be interesting if they ever find out the cause of the earthquake swarm. R we sure its not the begining fo the trouble caused by the galactic alignment scheduled for 2012? (actually I heard that already happened a few years back but I'm sure the doomsdayers will run with it) lol Had to throw that in.

I think the earth still has a lot of mysteries in store for us.....it's what makes life interesting.

Pretty much. Unfortunately we don't have enough monitoring equipment to know exactly what is going on. People have posted the point that we are sitting on a subduction zone so earthquakes will happen. The concentration in that part of OK County has some interest, but that is what the experts are for. For all we know it is the start of a new fault forming, gas/oil drilling, uplift in the crust, whatever.

I'll start getting worried when we see multiple earthquakes daily for an extended period of time.

[venture]

Small 2.8 quake this morning.

[venture]

3.3 Quake this morning.

[Thunder]

Lets bet on the date we'll have a 7-10 in the metro.

[venture]

Lets bet on the date we'll have a 7-10 in the metro.

We don't have any major fault here that would trigger one of those. The Meers fault in SW OK hasn't really been all that active recently. The closest possibility would be the New Madrid fault in SE Missouri. It is a bit dated, but an interesting read: http://156.110.192.25/newmadrid.pdf

Last thing, OGS has this out as part of their 2009 in review.

A brief update on the 2009 Oklahoma earthquakes northeast of Oklahoma City:

On average there are about 50 measurable earthquakes each year in Oklahoma with only a few of these having shaking strong enough to be felt. A total of 43 felt earthquakes in 2009 made this an exceptional year for seismic activity in Oklahoma. Twenty-seven of the felt earthquakes occurred in Oklahoma County, and another 7 were located in Lincoln County.


Is the number of felt earthquakes occurring northeast of Oklahoma City, unusual? Somewhat, but at this point there is no reason to be alarmed. Small earthquakes such as these can occur anywhere in the world. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that there are as many as 3,000 of these small earthquakes occurring every day. Earthquake swarms like this can go on for many months, and usually do not lead up to a major earthquake.


Do we know what is causing the earthquakes? No, without further study it is not possible to determine what is causing the earthquakes. The USGS and the Oklahoma Geological Survey are working together to conduct a limited field study to better measure any future earthquakes that could occur in eastern Oklahoma County.

[westsidesooner]

The closest possibility would be the New Madrid fault in SE Missouri. It is a bit dated, but an interesting read: http://156.110.192.25/newmadrid.pdf

I was thinking about that last night. As sad as the disaster is in Haiti......it should be a wake up call to everyone in a quake prone regions of our country. The San Andreas, the Cascadia, and especialy the New Madrid fault could cause catasprophic damage someday. The New Madrdid just because its in an area where buildings aren't up to code like they are (suppodsed to be) on the west coast. St Louis and Memphis could see alot of buildings come down if they have a major quake. Lets hope that day never comes....

[Thunder]

4.0 in that area today. It's going up and up. To all residents there, be warned, the big one is about to strike.

[silvergrove]

I heard a boom today when I was walking on the OUHSC campus, roughly around the same time when that 4.0 earthquake occurred.

Venture, do you have any articles on that subduction zone that we supposedly sit on? Bonus points if it is in a science journal

[OKCisOK4me]

We don't have any major fault here that would trigger one of those. The Meers fault in SW OK hasn't really been all that active recently. The closest possibility would be the New Madrid fault in SE Missouri. It is a bit dated, but an interesting read: http://156.110.192.25/newmadrid.pdf

Last thing, OGS has this out as part of their 2009 in review.

There's a major fault line that runs on the west side of OKC that is larger than the San Andreas fault in California. Thankfully, it is more stable. I believe Jonathan Condor talked on Channel 4 last night about the largest recorded earthquake to ever hit this area was a 5.5 magnitude back in the mid 1800's (he may have said 1950's but i heard 1850's) in El Reno. Oklahoma County is at the convergence of the 'Central Oklahoma Fault Zone' & the 'Nemaha Fault Zone'.

Here's the link to an awesome map I found. I don't know how to post the pic in here:

http://www.okgeosurvey1.gov/level2/g...nces.large.gif

[westsidesooner]

I found this article this morning regarding Oklahomas strongest earthquakes in history. ....I remember my mother talking about it when I was a kid....at the time she worked at the telephone company in downtown okc and said it shook the whole building.

Historic Earthquakes

Oklahoma

[venture]

3.8 Mag Quake for this morning

[venture]

And the 4.0 Mag Quake

[Bunty]

4.0 in that area today. It's going up and up. To all residents there, be warned, the big one is about to strike.

Give us a break. Oklahoma already has more than enough disasters every year.

[venture]

I'm going to try to keep an updated map at Google. I wanted to do this in 2009 but didn't get a chance. Will eventually work on it.

Oklahoma Earthquakes 2010 - Google Maps

[venture]

There's a major fault line that runs on the west side of OKC that is larger than the San Andreas fault in California. Thankfully, it is more stable. I believe Jonathan Condor talked on Channel 4 last night about the largest recorded earthquake to ever hit this area was a 5.5 magnitude back in the mid 1800's (he may have said 1950's but i heard 1850's) in El Reno. Oklahoma County is at the convergence of the 'Central Oklahoma Fault Zone' & the 'Nemaha Fault Zone'.

Here's the link to an awesome map I found. I don't know how to post the pic in here:

http://www.okgeosurvey1.gov/level2/g...nces.large.gif

OOOO Nice. I could never find anything like this. Must not have dug far enough.

[OKCisOK4me]

OOOO Nice. I could never find anything like this. Must not have dug far enough.

You're welcome

I've been waiting a long time to use that emoticon, lol.

I think it's funny that I felt the 3.8 but slept through the 4.0. Maybe it's because I was actually asleep for the 4.0 and for the 3.8 I was laying there with my eyes open in that frozen mode right before you jut out of bed to get your day started, lol. But in regards to the 4.0, this damn dog was barking this morning that never does. He must have felt it...

[Thunder]

I knew about the huge fault line that basically split the entire state in half.

There was a movie that aired on KFOR several years ago and it included Oklahoma and this fault line as one of the major events. Fantastic movie! I'm not sure if they exaggerated (sp?) how wide and deep this fault line can split as shown in the movie.

I really wish KFOR will air that movie again with all these latest earthquakes. Anyone remember the name of the movie? It was a small budget movie, only went straight to us rather than going to the theaters.

[OKCisOK4me]

I knew about the huge fault line that basically split the entire state in half.

There was a movie that aired on KFOR several years ago and it included Oklahoma and this fault line as one of the major events. Fantastic movie! I'm not sure if they exaggerated (sp?) how wide and deep this fault line can split as shown in the movie.

I really wish KFOR will air that movie again with all these latest earthquakes. Anyone remember the name of the movie? It was a small budget movie, only went straight to us rather than going to the theaters.

Would this be the movie where they showed the ground crumbling away to create a huge chasm that was headed straight for a nuclear plant (haha, totally Hollywood) in Texas and they diverted it around the plant with explosives but it continued down to the gulf of Mexico and before we know it, Oklahoma was a new gulf inlet? If so, lol, I remember that movie. Quite cheesy!

[Thunder]

Yes! It's a good movie and I enjoyed it. That was a bit odd that they were able to divert the shifting around the nuclear plant. They wasn't able to stop it, but the blast so powerful was able to direct it.

I wonder if this fault can actually split open and the gulf come rushing in? How possible is it?

Just wondering, have there been an earthquake anywhere in the world that split open exposing the lava down below?