(VORNews) – A 4.1-magnitude earthquake hit central Oklahoma City early Saturday morning, after a slightly bigger earthquake the night before and accompanied by a series of lesser quakes.
The earthquake struck shortly after 5:30 a.m. local time, approximately 19 miles north of Oklahoma Citi, near the Northeast Edmond Gas and Oil Field. The earthquake, which had a depth of around 4.1 miles, was one of many that occurred on Friday and Saturday, according to the US Geological Survey.
On Saturday morning, the Oklahoma Geological Survey issued a statement stating that there had been reports of significant shaking in the nearby vicinity and around Oklahoma City.
State seismologist Jake Walter told USA TODAY that the area had seen around 18 earthquakes in the last 12 hours. Walter concluded that a fault that geologists had discovered was the cause of the earthquakes.
The number of earthquakes in Oklahoma City has increased
According to him, the number of earthquakes in the area has increased in recent years. Human activities, including fracking, have accelerated the growth. Although there was a spike in activity in the region between 2015 and 2016, it has continued to experience minor seismic activity that is occasionally imperceptible to locals.
However, no wastewater dumping appears to have occurred in the region recently. “It’s a little bit of a mystery why you’ve had this sudden recurrence of very strong, widely felt earthquakes,” he went on to say.
https://twitter.com/jakewalter9/status/1746038349599584471
According to the USA TODAY Network’s The Oklahoman, locals reported experiencing tremors on social media. A 4.3-magnitude earthquake occurred on Friday night, approximately one mile from the epicenter of the quake that occurred early Saturday morning.
There was also an earthquake on Saturday morning, with a magnitude of 2.7, according to the US Geological Survey. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) lowered the reported magnitudes of two earthquakes on Saturday: one that occurred early on Saturday (4.1) and another that occurred late on Friday (4.4).
As a precaution against potentially devastating aftershocks, state authorities urged citizens to safeguard important possessions and to follow the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” protocol.
https://twitter.com/USGS_Quakes/status/1746157152530759964
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