Published: September 4,2016
In the wake of a record-tying 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma, state officials have ordered the shutdown of 37 disposal wells used for fracking.
According to the Associated Press, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission will shut down wells in a 725-square mile area near the quake's epicenter.
According
to Matt Skinner, spokesperson for the commission, the wells will be
shut down one by one over a period of 10 days because seismologists have
warned that a large and sudden shutdown of the wells could cause
another earthquake
The move comes just months after a March 2016 report
by the U.S. Geological Survey that said hydraulic fracking practices,
which is used by oil and gas producers to extract oil from the ground,
has increased the risk of earthquakes in several states, including
Oklahoma.
Damage in Pawnee County
A man was hit by falling debris while trying to protect his child during a strong earthquake that struck near Pawnee, Oklahoma at around 7 a.m. CST Saturday morning.Pawnee County Sheriff Mike Waters told The Weather Channel that the man was hit in the head by pieces of a falling chimney during the 5.6 magnitude earthquake, which ties the record for the strongest ever recorded in the state.
The earthquake that struck Pawnee, Oklahoma, Saturday morning stripped bricks off this building. (Twitter/Thomas Ryan Red Corn)
“Woke up to what sounded like a plane crashing, freight train coming, to the bed shaking, pictures rattling on the wall, dishes falling in the kitchen, kids coming in screaming and crying,” Stillwater resident Angie Myers posted on Facebook.
Saturday evening, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency in Pawnee County, which allows state agencies to make emergency purchases for disaster relief and is the first step toward asking for federal assistance, if necessary, according to the Associated Press.
Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell told the AP that no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter, and there were no injuries. "We've got buildings cracked," Randell said. "Most of it's brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s."
"We are getting lots of reports of buildings with bricks that came off and broken windows," Dede Pershall, Pawnee police and fire dispatcher, told KOCO.
The old Arkansas Valley National Bank building in downtown Pawnee suffered the most damage, Mayor Brad Sewell told KFOR.
“Beautiful old sandstone building and some of the exterior façade of that building has fallen onto the sidewalk,” Sewell said.
The
Pawnee Nation Tribal Complex declared a state of emergency on Saturday.
Several buildings were closed off because of severe cracks to interior
walls, said Andrew Knife Chief, executive director of the Pawnee Nation.“Some
of them run the entire length of the whole wall. And, we have
separation on the second story of this building from the ceiling and the
wall," Knife said.
Social media photos show food and personal hygiene items shaken off shelves at local stores, and a pile of bricks stripped off a building in downtown Pawnee.
Oklahoma Geological Survey geophysicist Jefferson Chang told AP that the hard bedrock beneath the surface in north-central Oklahoma is likely the reason there was less damage.
The
quake was strong enough to knock items off the shelf of a grocery store
in Chickasha, Oklahoma, more than 100 miles to the southwest of Pawnee.
(Twitter/Mary Beth Carver)
Furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm.
Social media photos show food and personal hygiene items shaken off shelves at local stores, and a pile of bricks stripped off a building in downtown Pawnee.
Oklahoma Geological Survey geophysicist Jefferson Chang told AP that the hard bedrock beneath the surface in north-central Oklahoma is likely the reason there was less damage.
The
quake was strong enough to knock items off the shelf of a grocery store
in Chickasha, Oklahoma, more than 100 miles to the southwest of Pawnee.
(Twitter/Mary Beth Carver)
"Then
it just ... Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,"
said Wills, who lives about 2½ miles outside of town. "It rocked my
house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets,
broke glasses."
Sen. James Lankford visited the town to tour the damage.
“When a disaster like this happens over a holiday weekend, there is a sense that everyone is disconnected, when that’s not true. We are still connected, and I want everyone to be able to see it here,” Lankford told KFOR.
Oklahoma State University is also doing checks of the stadium in Stillwater ahead of today's college football game, KOCO reports.
The quake struck at a depth of about 41 miles below the surface, about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma, and about 75 miles north of Oklahoma City, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The quake was reportedly felt in at least seven states, including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas. People took to social media as far away as Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri; Houston and Dallas, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Omaha, Nebraska to report the quake.
Omaha resident Sean Weide told the Associated Press he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy.
Sen. James Lankford visited the town to tour the damage.
“When a disaster like this happens over a holiday weekend, there is a sense that everyone is disconnected, when that’s not true. We are still connected, and I want everyone to be able to see it here,” Lankford told KFOR.
Oklahoma State University is also doing checks of the stadium in Stillwater ahead of today's college football game, KOCO reports.
The quake struck at a depth of about 41 miles below the surface, about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma, and about 75 miles north of Oklahoma City, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The quake was reportedly felt in at least seven states, including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas. People took to social media as far away as Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri; Houston and Dallas, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Omaha, Nebraska to report the quake.
Omaha resident Sean Weide told the Associated Press he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy.
Weide said he and one of his daughters "heard the building start creaking" and said it "was surreal."
The quake matches a November 2011 5.6 quake in
the same region. The two are tied for the strongest earthquakes ever to
be recorded in Oklahoma.
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So, four mag 5's and above in Oklahoma history. Two were this year. pic.twitter.com/kCgiSSarAR #okquake
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