Experts say it's only a matter of time before the "big one" shakes Oklahoma

[bananas]

Source: KFOR TV News

Oklahoma is no longer known as the state where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. Now, the Sooner State also leads the world in seismic activity.

This year, more than 5, 000 earthquakes have been recorded and studied in our state. Residents have become accustomed to the little shaking, rattling and rolling.

However, experts say earthquakes in Oklahoma will likely increase in magnitude over time.

Now, research said it's only a matter of time before we get a big one that will change life for those of us living here.

<snip>

Read more: http://kfor.com/2015/11/23/only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-big-one-shakes-oklahoma/

[yeoman6987]

1. Like the big one in California? The media scare mongering again.

[Auggie]

5. I take those seriously, friend ...

I was 5 miles from the epicenter of the 6.0 West Napa Fault earthquake in 2014. The power of a 6.0 -- especially that close -- blew me away. An 8.0 on the San Andreas off the San Francisco coast or the Hayward under Oakland is going to seriously mess up the Bay Area for months. People better be scared ... and prepared.

[kentauros]

20. My guess on one way to be prepared

is how to get out of buildings quickly. Because, as has been noted in this sub-thread, buildings in Oklahoma aren't built to the same codes as states with high earthquake activity. In other words, there are either no codes for that, or they are for smaller earthquakes.

A friend of mine just finished traveling through New Zealand and was talking about how difficult it was to drive through Christchurch (their GPS hadn't been updated to the road closures.) I read that Christchurch lost about a third of all buildings in the Feb. 2011 quake. It was "only" a 6.3 and they do have building codes for quakes.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. But big ones have occurred in California

Lots of damage was caused by the Loma Prieta (San Francisco-Oakland) earthquake of 1989 and the Northridge quake of 1994. And just last year, there was a 6.1 earthquake in the Napa area.

[jeff47]

14. And CA building code is pretty amazing at mitigating earthquake damage

For example, a foundation in California has about 10x the steel of a foundation in places without a history of earthquakes. Like Oklahoma.

OK gets a 5.x and they're fucked.

[Control-Z]

9. No scare mongering required

when it comes to earthquakes. They are real. They are terrifying. They are deadly and destructive. And they come without warning.

[progree]

13. How one US state went from two quakes a year to 585

Last edited Tue Nov 24, 2015, 06:53 AM - Edit history (4)

How one US state went from two quakes a year to 585, AFP, 9/20/15

The central US state of Oklahoma has gone from registering two earthquakes a year to nearly two a day and scientists point to a controversial culprit: wastewater injection wells used in fracking.

... As of last month, Oklahoma has already experienced more than 600 quakes strong enough to rattle windows and rock cars. The biggest was a 4.5-magnitude quake that hit the small town of Crescent.

.... From 1975 to 2008, the state experienced anywhere from zero to three earthquakes a year which registered at 3.0 or higher. Then the numbers jumped: [font color = blue] there were 20 in 2009, 35 in 2010, 64 in 2011, 35 in 2012, 109 in 2013 and 585 in 2014[/font].

More: http://news.yahoo.com/one-us-state-went-two-quakes-585-054259418.html

Even the Oklahoma governor has accepted the link between fracking (particularly the injection of waste water into the ground) and earthquakes.

Gov. Mary Fallin acknowledges “direct correlation” between earthquakes and disposal wells
http://kfor.com/2015/08/04/gov-mary-fallin-acknowledges-direct-correlation-between-earthquakes-and-disposal-wells/

[font color = red]On edit: oops, I meant this to be a reply to #1. Massive apologies, Control-Z[/font]

[Control-Z]

15. Your reply has zero to do with my post.

Whether naturally occurring or enhanced by greedy humans, earthquakes are everything I wrote. Virtually no one needs help understanding that.

Perhaps your need to lecture me clouded your interpretation of what I wrote.

Please, start an OP about it if that's what caused your inability to comprehend my post.

[Blue Owl]

2. WTF

What The Frack...

[Sunlei]

3. Liquefaction of the old dust bowl soils and the entire state is stuck in jellomud :(

[leftofcool]

4. I was visiting family when the 5.0 hit a couple of years ago.

3 miles from the epi-center. Thought it was an explosion. That shifted my sis's concrete back porch 2 feet to the left and back 3 feet to the right. Large cracks right down the center of it now.

[BenGrimm]

7. Artificial earthquakes

It's completely amazing that nowadays we create earthquakes by accident.

[chapdrum]

8. "Governor" Brown refuses to ban fracking

in the state known worldwide, for decades, for its huge seismic faults.

As another DU'er points out here, we're literally creating earthquakes.

[Brother Buzz]

17. "Governor" Brown refuses to ban plain water injection for geothermal energy

The Prune Pickers in Healdsburg, California will attest to the fact that they are literally creating earthquakes

Healdsburg has had: (M1.5 or greater)

11 earthquakes today
30 earthquakes in the past 7 days
122 earthquakes in the past month
1,571 earthquakes in the past year




According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Earth Sciences division, seismicity was very low prior to the use of the Geyser steam field for geothermal energy, although this may have been the result of low seismic coverage of the area. Before 1969, there were no earthquakes above magnitude 2 recorded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in an approximately 70 square miles (180 km2) area around the Geysers.Studies have shown that injecting water into the Geysers field produces earthquakes from magnitude 0.5 to 3.0, although a 4.6 occurred in 1973 and magnitude four events increased thereafter. Even with increasing injection rates over time, the rate of magnitude 3 earthquakes has remained relatively unchanged since the 1980s, although the amount of earthquakes has increased significantly. A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck near the Geysers on January 12, 2014. Despite the increases in the number of earthquakes and the fears of local residents, it is unlikely that a large earthquake will occur at the Geysers since there is no large earthquake fault or fracture nearby.

[a la izquierda]

10. I never felt a strong one when I lived in Los Angeles

But I felt a real good one in 2010 in Norman, OK as I was finishing up my grad school work. It scared the hell out of people, who believed it was a bomb going off (reminiscent of OKC in 1995).
The soil is all red clay and it cracks and shifts normally.

[MuseRider]

11. We are feeling them

all the way up in NE Kansas. They may not be considered very large but the sure cover a large area. Just last week one of the quakes knocked pictures off walls here and drove the animals nuts for a while.

Damn frackers.

[Baclava]

12. Earthquake prediction is ridiculous

But that 9.0 Mega-quake coming to the New Madrid fault could be a game changer

[csziggy]

16. I hope they don't get something similar to the New Madrid earthquakes

Which were actually a series of earthquakes over several months, ranging from ~7.0 to 7.5 with some aftershocks that were at least 6.0. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811-1812.php

The town of New Madrid, Missouri was destroyed in the last earthquake.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Did not know that about New Madrid. Thanks for the information. n/t

[Person 2713]

18. Keep on Fracking

[Skittles]

21. hope it shakes some sense into them