What's with all the earthquakes lately? (Oklahoma City, Lawton: house, college, tornadoes)

[LocalType]

Yeah, I actually just felt one that was centered near Sparks, OK. And I'm up in Fayetteville, AR, about 250-ish miles away. Happened around 4:20pm Central time... USGS listed it as a 4.4. I didn't even know there were fault lines in Oklahoma!

Magnitude 4.4 - OKLAHOMA (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2010tfe4.php - broken link)

[FL-NC-AZ-TX]

I felt today's 4.4 magnitude quake in Norman (45-50+ miles southwest of the epicenter). It felt like a truck had crashed into the side of the building. No damages resulted (wasn't strong enough and didn't last long enough), but it was definitely enough to get my attention.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by lasomeday

Like I said before New Dominion has converted an old oil field into a water flood oil field meaning they are pumping water deep into the ground pushing oil up. This can cause the faults to be lubricated causing them to shift causing earthquakes.

That is what I think is causing them, because the time lines match.

So is this oil field you're referring to in the Jones area where earthquakes have been happening? Since these earthquakes are continuing and getting more intense we had best get to the bottom of what's causing them, especially if man made.

[themaster]

Originally Posted by osugirl2

I have felt two earthquakes in the last 3 hours here at Tinker AFB with epicenters around OKC and Del City. I read about a few small earthquakes last month in the eastern part of the state. I've lived here my whole life and never felt an earthquake until today. I've always know that we can get small scale earthquakes here in Oklahoma, but it seems as though they are abundant lately!!!

If you want a real answer

There are earthquakes going on all over the world the earth is going through some changes.. there will be more! Haiti and Chili were just the beginning..

[StillwaterTownie]

A listing of Oklahoma's latest earthquakes is keep here: Oklahoma Earthquake Page

[dean mullen]

Yeah its creepy, believe it or not there was overall 13 quakes around the world that are like actual quakes that can cause damage and stuff, this year, most have'nt, but last year there was 26, so 1/2 of last years amount in just 2 1/2 months, and look at all the quake records the number seems to have been on the rise in the past few years or so, now its like a runaway train, hope every1 will be ok.

[shots956]

This might help from a scientist in a NC newsletter.

With a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hitting just off shore of Chile in the early hours this morning, and the humanitarian disaster of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, there is a lot of attention being focused on earthquakes. While not technically a meteorological event, meteorologists are generally looked to for discussion of earthquakes. Despite being a geologic event, most of the media does not have a staff geologist to provide discussion, and meteorologists have studied earth science, which often covers earthquakes.
The state of Oklahoma is a land that has had a lot of geologic activity in its history (even before becoming a state in 1907). Over 500 million years ago, the central part of the United States began to separate, but never fully did. This left a rift zone across Oklahoma. A short time later (in geologic time), volcanic eruptions occurred in Oklahoma, and then the continent began to come back together. What resulted were a few areas of 'mountains' - the Wichitas, Arbuckles, and Ouachitas.
Earthquakes in Oklahoma are relatively common. Between 1977 and 2005, Oklahoma averaged 59 earthquakes per year. Many of these occurred in the mountainous region of southern Oklahoma. Recently, there has been a long lasting swarm of earthquakes near the Jones area. The strongest of these was a magnitude 4.0 on January 15, 2010. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has a strength of nearly 100,000 times less than the earthquake that hit Chile early this morning. Oklahoma's earthquakes causes some minor shaking, and very rarely cause damage. However, in 1952, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake was centered under El Reno.
While the reason for these earthquakes is uncertain, it is likely that there is an unknown fault that is causing the earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological Survey monitor Oklahoma's earthquakes, and you can find a wealth of information there.

[wwe hbk]

is it 2012 aready

[wwe hbk]

is it 2012 aready? did we skip 2011

[NorwegianViking]

Originally Posted by shots956

This might help from a scientist in a NC newsletter.

With a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hitting just off shore of Chile in the early hours this morning, and the humanitarian disaster of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, there is a lot of attention being focused on earthquakes. While not technically a meteorological event, meteorologists are generally looked to for discussion of earthquakes. Despite being a geologic event, most of the media does not have a staff geologist to provide discussion, and meteorologists have studied earth science, which often covers earthquakes.
The state of Oklahoma is a land that has had a lot of geologic activity in its history (even before becoming a state in 1907). Over 500 million years ago, the central part of the United States began to separate, but never fully did. This left a rift zone across Oklahoma. A short time later (in geologic time), volcanic eruptions occurred in Oklahoma, and then the continent began to come back together. What resulted were a few areas of 'mountains' - the Wichitas, Arbuckles, and Ouachitas.
Earthquakes in Oklahoma are relatively common. Between 1977 and 2005, Oklahoma averaged 59 earthquakes per year. Many of these occurred in the mountainous region of southern Oklahoma. Recently, there has been a long lasting swarm of earthquakes near the Jones area. The strongest of these was a magnitude 4.0 on January 15, 2010. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has a strength of nearly 100,000 times less than the earthquake that hit Chile early this morning. Oklahoma's earthquakes causes some minor shaking, and very rarely cause damage. However, in 1952, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake was centered under El Reno.
While the reason for these earthquakes is uncertain, it is likely that there is an unknown fault that is causing the earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological Survey monitor Oklahoma's earthquakes, and you can find a wealth of information there.

Thanks for posting this very interesting information. I have been wanting to move from Texas to Oklahoma, but honestly, the earthquakes that have been happening in Oklahoma have given me second thoughts. On another forum, one person said that the drilling for oil and gas has caused more quakes to happen since they are pumping massive amounts of water into the ground. Have any sink holes been noticed there? I noticed that Oklahoma City has had around 3.+ quakes every week now for the past 2-3 weeks. I would really be interested in knowing exactly where that unfound fault line is that marks where the two land masses joined ages ago. Thanks again for the post.