[ARRL-OK] Record earthquake shakes Oklahoma late Saturday

[Mark Conklin]

By Staff Reports  Tulsaworld.com
Published: 11/5/2011  11:14 PM 
Last Modified: 11/6/2011  1:39 AM
 
PRAGUE, OKLAHOMA- A magnitude 5.6 earthquake -- the strongest in state history -- shook Oklahoma late Saturday night, less than 24 hours after a 4.8 quake shook the state.
 
The earthquake at 10:53 p.m. was centered north of Prague in Lincoln County, and sent shockwaves hundreds of miles through multiple states. The quake was in the same area as one that occurred at 2:12 a.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Prague is about 75 miles southwest of Tulsa.
 
Initial reports from EMSA and the Tulsa Police Department indicated that no major damage had been sustained in the Tulsa area, but there was damage in Lincoln County.
 
According to the Lincoln County emergency manager, portions of U.S. 62 have buckled and the chimney on a two-story house collapsed near Prague.
 
A boulder rolled onto a roadway in the area, according to the emergency manager. Other buildings have been damaged, and further assessments will be made after daylight.
 
"It was a pretty ornery little earthquake," said Joey Wakefield, Lincoln County's emergency manager.
 
The U.S. Geological Survey received reports that the tremors were felt in multiple states -- Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee among them. The agency received thousands of reports, including some from Indianapolis and Milwaukee. 
 
In the Tulsa area, it produced shockwaves for about 20-30 seconds. It was the latest in a series of quakes originating in the same area of Lincoln County.
 
Early reports indicate that Saturday night's quake surpassed a 5.5 temblor on April 9, 1952, near El Reno as the strongest in state history.
 
The first reports on tonight's quake indicated that it registered 5.2, but those were revised upward by the U.S. Geological Survey.
 
The quake was felt in Stillwater and occurred shortly after the end of Oklahoma State's dramatic 52-45 win over Kansas State at Boone Pickens Stadium. The game was nationally televised by ABC, and during a postgame analysis, broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit felt the quake during an interview with an ESPN studio host.
"... I literally thought the stadium was rocking. People were stepping down off this platform I'm on," Herbstreit said. Stillwater is approximately 60 miles from the earthquake's epicenter.
 
People throughout the Tulsa area reported feeling the quake, describing a rumbling sound that had windows rattling and hanging lights swaying.
 
Bill Koch, of Jay, said he lives in an underground house, and the quake "about shook me out of bed."