Several earthquakes rumbled through the Edmond area.
-
Courtesy www.earthquaketrack.com -
Resident's damage from Edmond Earthquakes. Photo Submitted -
Resident's damage from Edmond Earthquakes. Photo Submitted -
Resident's damage from Edmond Earthquakes. Photo Submitted
The USGS (United States Geological Survey) reported earthquakes ranging from magnitude 2.5 to 4.4 Friday night into early Saturday. The damage threshold for earthquakes usually starts at M4.
Jake Walters, State Seismologist of OGS, said of the 19 quakes felt around the metro area, only two were main shocks with many aftershocks.
Fortunately, at this time no injuries nor massive damage has been reported. Saturday morning the City of Edmond released a statement informing of investigations to search for any damage resulting from the quakes.
Bill Begley, Marketing and Public Relations Manager for the City reported, there was “no significant damage found in inspections by staff Saturday, and the Corps of Engineers found no issues in their inspection of the dam at Arcadia Lake.”
Businesses or homes sustaining any damage would not be reported to the City unless there were issues with utility infrastructure, and currently none has been reported.
Social media presents several home videos with camera footage of items falling off shelves and shaking houses.
Local residents also report and have shared pictures of personal property damage experienced.
Karen Snell who lives less than 1.5 miles south of the epicenter of all recorded earthquakes recalled, “We had a ton (of earthquakes) when we moved into the neighborhood in November 2016 but then they stopped fracking and injecting wastewater back into the ground and, lo and behold, the earthquakes stopped.”
Another resident, Tara Niendorf, who lives 1.6 miles south of the epicenter expresses frustration and confusion. She asks, “Why have we suddenly had several earthquakes after such a long stretch without them. Do they think it’s oil industry related? I haven’t heard any explanation as to why we had so many in such a short time frame. What I do know is that I am sick and tired of my house shaking, the dogs barking for no reason before a quake, and the kids screaming and jumping into our laps.“
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) is investigating the earthquakes and working with the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS).
OCC Spokesperson Trey Davis said, “There’s no new activity. There’s nothing that suggests a link between the oil & gas industry and the quakes Friday and Saturday.”
The OCC believes the recent quakes are not connected to oil and natural gas, but rather to the fault lines that remain active in the area. “Sometimes, when those plates shift, it can shake the ground and that appears to be what happened with the quakes in Edmond,” Davis explained.
In the past, some Oklahoman earthquakes have been linked to underground wastewater injection wells. Most notably, the strongest earthquake on Oklahoma record near Pawnee in September 2016 shook at a magnitude 5.8 and was connected to the oil and gas industry.
As a result of investigations, the OCC had directed several producers to close some wells and decrease volumes in other wells to reduce the risk of causing earthquakes.
OCC Spokeperson Matt Skinner said “there is no oil and gas activity in that area that can be linked to these earthquakes” because the injection wells were shut down in the area known as Arcadia Field.
According to EarthquakeTrack.com, Edmond has experienced 462 earthquakes in the past year of M1.5 or greater.
