Is it enough to call it a swarm? Oklahoma hadn’t had a quake of great signficance in about 30 years, but they had a 5.6 and a 4.7 yesterday — and look at this list for today and yesterday from the USGS (list will probably change at USGS as time moves on):
|
MAG |
UTC DATE-TIME
y/m/d h:m:s |
LAT
deg |
LON
deg |
DEPTH
km |
LOCATION |
| MAP |
3.3 |
2011/11/06 18:26:56 |
35.478 |
-96.864 |
5.0 |
4 km ( 2 mi) SE of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.7 |
2011/11/06 17:52:34 |
35.547 |
-96.819 |
5.0 |
7 km ( 4 mi) S of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
3.9 |
2011/11/06 15:07:05 |
35.535 |
-96.909 |
5.0 |
4 km ( 3 mi) NNW of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.2 |
2011/11/06 11:20:23 |
35.525 |
-96.883 |
5.0 |
3 km ( 2 mi) NNE of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.0 |
2011/11/06 11:16:20 |
35.523 |
-96.844 |
4.9 |
6 km ( 3 mi) ENE of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.4 |
2011/11/06 11:03:52 |
35.539 |
-96.825 |
5.0 |
8 km ( 5 mi) S of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
3.9 |
2011/11/06 10:52:35 |
35.567 |
-96.797 |
5.0 |
5 km ( 3 mi) SSE of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
4.0 |
2011/11/06 09:39:57 |
35.506 |
-96.865 |
5.0 |
3 km ( 2 mi) ENE of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.4 |
2011/11/06 09:22:04 |
35.585 |
-96.823 |
5.0 |
3 km ( 2 mi) S of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
2.7 |
2011/11/06 08:14:12 |
35.474 |
-96.794 |
5.0 |
7 km ( 4 mi) NNE of Johnson, OK |
| MAP |
3.2 |
2011/11/06 07:32:40 |
35.544 |
-96.901 |
4.9 |
5 km ( 3 mi) N of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.8 |
2011/11/06 06:31:10 |
35.559 |
-96.874 |
5.0 |
7 km ( 4 mi) NNE of Meeker, OK |
| MAP |
3.0 |
2011/11/06 04:54:00 |
35.540 |
-96.687 |
5.0 |
6 km ( 4 mi) N of Prague, OK |
| MAP |
3.6 |
2011/11/06 04:03:41 |
35.554 |
-96.760 |
5.0 |
8 km ( 5 mi) SE of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
5.6 |
2011/11/06 03:53:10 |
35.537 |
-96.747 |
5.0 |
8 km ( 5 mi) NW of Prague, OK |
| MAP |
3.6 |
2011/11/05 14:36:30 |
35.584 |
-96.789 |
4.9 |
4 km ( 2 mi) SE of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
3.4 |
2011/11/05 13:42:26 |
35.530 |
-96.766 |
5.0 |
9 km ( 5 mi) NW of Prague, OK |
| MAP |
3.3 |
2011/11/05 11:24:15 |
35.521 |
-96.778 |
5.0 |
9 km ( 6 mi) WNW of Prague, OK |
| MAP |
3.3 |
2011/11/05 09:12:11 |
35.591 |
-96.788 |
4.9 |
4 km ( 2 mi) SE of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
2.7 |
2011/11/05 07:50:42 |
35.559 |
-96.762 |
4.8 |
8 km ( 5 mi) SE of Sparks, OK |
| MAP |
2.7 |
2011/11/05 07:44:34 |
35.488 |
-96.755 |
5.0 |
6 km ( 4 mi) W of Prague, OK |
| MAP |
3.4 |
2011/11/05 07:27:20 |
35.566 |
-96.698 |
5.0 |
9 km ( 6 mi) N of Prague, OK |
| MAP |
4.7 |
2011/11/05 07:12:45 |
35.553 |
-96.748 |
4.0 |
9 km ( 6 mi) SE of Sparks, OK |
Back to Map Centered at 36°N, 96°W (That’s Tulsa, roughly)
23 quakes in two days. Oklahomans might be excused for wondering what’s up.
Just technical details here. USGS issued a notice on both of the larger quakes, the 4.7 on Saturday, November 5, and the 5.6 on Sunday, November 6.
Still, this isn’t much of a swarm for an active quake zone, like California, or Yellowstone, or Alaska.
But, for Oklahoma, this is big. Plus, it appears to lay observers that earthquake intensity and frequency both have been building for over a year. Recent earthquakes in Arkansas and Texas concern some local residents who fear the quakes are the result of hydrofracturing (fracking) activities being conducted in relation to natural gas and oil drilling and extraction.
And as this map of U.S. quakes in the preceding week shows, the quakes in Oklahoma are the largest in the U.S. for the week.
More quakes in California, on the USGS maps -- but the Oklahoma quakes are biggest
Research continues, and local residents stay nervous.
Here’s a map that should update with new quake information — which means, Oklahomans hope, that the indicators of quakes will go away over the next few days.
USGS map of Oklahoma City/Tulsa area where earthquakes occurred in the week leading up to November 6, 2011
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 