Conversation just observed on Facebook:

"We felt it. It rattled china."

"Wow! They felt it all the way in china?"

pyrion: Amishrabbit: USGS site says the largest historical Okie quake was a 5.5 in 1952. Grew up in California, where a 5 usually falls on the "naaah" side of the "do I bother getting up" threshold. So, a mid-5 every sixty years or so doesn't seem so bad, even if it is a record-breaker.

It wouldn't seem so bad in a state where it is effectively illegal to build anything out of brick. The midwest hasn't learned this the hard way yet.

Also, depending on where you live in California, a 7 can fall on the "naaah" side too. Like the one we had Easter of last year. That one was fun.

We need brick houses. Spring thunderstorms routinely have winds over 100mph, and that can tear the siding right off the side of a house.

Crocodilly_Pontifex: So west coast farkers, if you're in a building that was not built to withstand earthquakes, is a 5.6 scary?

I was in a brick building, build in the 30's when a 5.4 hit. Cracked plaster, a couple lens covers came off the fluorescent lights and things shook. It had these big picture windows that were about 6x10 foot tall - they were bowing in and out an inch either way, but didn't break. I talked to someone whose bookcase fell over and a few buildings had some structural issues, but didn't come down. We all came outside when it was over, talked a bit like a block party, then filled the coffee shop for breakfast.

/I had pancakes.

Conan the Librarian: The quake occurred on the Wilzetta Fault. (new window) Link goes to a PDF describing the numerous fault lines in the Kansas and Oklahoma area. 10th page in the PDF, labeled page 29 in the geologic journal.

Will you guys quit arguing over who's fault this is? Jeez.

nukeim: We need brick houses. Spring thunderstorms routinely have winds over 100mph, and that can tear the siding right off the side of a house.

I know, I used to spend my early childhood summers at my grandparents' home in Indiana. But herein lies the problem: brick doesn't transfer lateral motion all that well, and earthquakes are not really so much about the ground shaking as they are about the ground rolling.

If it makes you feel any better, it could be a lot worse, you could be using mud brick. Liquefaction kicks in then, meaning a decently-sized surface quake will cause the building to turn into quicksand. Anytime the middle-east gets nailed by one, this is the #1 cause of the mass casualties.

It's nobody's fault, just deal with the effect,

Is everything still up to date in Kansas City?

nukeim: to say it was an 8.2 with a 7.4 aftershock the next day...Or 8.4 with a 7.2 the next day.

You're thinking of the Landers/Big Bear earthquakes. (new window)

A quake! A quake!
The house begins to shake!
You're bouncing across the floor
and watching all your dishes break!

You're sleeping, there's a quake!
You're instantly awake!
You're leaping out of bed
and shouting "Oh, for heaven's sake!"

Vegemite: PsiChi: Vegemite: PsiChi: Vegemite: It woke me up last night...

In Australia??

Uh, no. I live in the terrible state of Oklahoma

I was just joking, boss. I'll tell you at least one wonderful thing about Oklahoma, though. Not sure how to describe this, but the way the lightning looks there is better than any other place I've seen. Maybe because it's flat land, so the lightning is shown in all its glory, without many trees obscuring it. Quite a show!

Agreed on the storms. But, when spring time comes it's always worrying about tornadoes. Other than that I don't really despise the state for the most part, it's just boring here.

The only redeeming feature of this state is the price of education. Honestly i will be a junior before it costs much more than 12k, but I went to UCO because of the price and class size. The books though are still a rip off.

That book thing is horrible everywhere - how do they get away with that? But I gotta disagree with you on the price of an education being the only redeeming feature. The people are nice, too, and that might be one thing you look back on fondly if you ever decide to leave it.

mjoven1975: nukeim: to say it was an 8.2 with a 7.4 aftershock the next day...Or 8.4 with a 7.2 the next day.

You're thinking of the Landers/Big Bear earthquakes. (new window)

Looks right. They reported it as an 8.x on that day though.

I know I couldn't stand up for pretty much the duration of it. We all just sat down.

ATTENNNNNNNNNSHUN citizens of OKLAHOMA! (new window)

Somacandra: Captain Steroid: Dammit, which one of you FARKers opened the Ark of the Covenant?!

Its Oklahoma. Must be teh gheys.

God obviously hates them.

GladGirl: Amishrabbit: USGS site says the largest historical Okie quake was a 5.5 in 1952. Grew up in California, where a 5 usually falls on the "naaah" side of the "do I bother getting up" threshold. So, a mid-5 every sixty years or so doesn't seem so bad, even if it is a record-breaker.

I call bullshiat on California's supposed jadedness. I've lived in San Francisco for nearly 11 years, and we've only had one quake bigger than a 5 during that time. Whenever something bigger than a 3.5 strikes around here, it's big news and people get all wound up and on edge. We like to pretend we're too cool to get riled up over quakes, but we're big pussies in the end.

You must have a different definition of "big news" than the rest of us Californians.

Grables'Daughter: Is everything still up to date in Kansas City?

Probably. They've always gone about as far as they can go.

You're in our thoughts and prayers, Oklahomamarion.

What in the....

I grew up in Oklahoma for 18 years and there was never a hint of any earthquake.

My co-worker just got back from California a couple of weeks ago and she felt one there too.

GladGirl: Amishrabbit: USGS site says the largest historical Okie quake was a 5.5 in 1952. Grew up in California, where a 5 usually falls on the "naaah" side of the "do I bother getting up" threshold. So, a mid-5 every sixty years or so doesn't seem so bad, even if it is a record-breaker.

I call bullshiat on California's supposed jadedness. I've lived in San Francisco for nearly 11 years, and we've only had one quake bigger than a 5 during that time. Whenever something bigger than a 3.5 strikes around here, it's big news and people get all wound up and on edge. We like to pretend we're too cool to get riled up over quakes, but we're big pussies in the end.

I see it more as people being excited than scared. It's all fun and games, at least until someone dies.

Shook the house pretty good here in Owasso.

Slept though the 4.7 the night before.

pyrion: Also, depending on where you live in California, a 7 can fall on the "naaah" side too. Like the one we had Easter of last year. That one was fun.

I was on the third story of a building in San Diego (CSE building, UC San Diego), which rather magnified the earthquake, with a large number of classmates from the kinds of countries where buildings collapse in earthquakes - many of them freaked and started running; I heard one of them broke an arm scrambling down a staircase. Probably the only injury in California.

I remember narrating to a stunned looking guy, "Huh, that's P-waves only - must be pretty strong, but really far away, probably to the east. Oh, there's the S-waves."

We Californians call an event like this "Tuesday".

Bio-nic: It was funny - i HAD JUST moved to NC when the east coast earthquake hit - and I just left OKC last night after a week long business trip.

Am I going to die?

Have you considered that you might be a minor quake god?

FredaDeStilleto: It's too early for the west coast farkers to begin the usual "I'd have slept through that" crap. So that's something Oklahoma residents can be thankful for.

Came across an article about the October 2010 quake in that area. Seemed to imply that it was caused by gas and oil drilling/disposal wells and not by plate shifting.

I'm taking a 200 level class on Earthquakes and therefore I know everything about earthquakes*. I doubt it was oil and gas drilling, more likely midplate rebound. That area is fractured with faults and occasionally things settle.



*caution: I don't actually know everything about earthquakes

GladGirl: Amishrabbit: USGS site says the largest historical Okie quake was a 5.5 in 1952. Grew up in California, where a 5 usually falls on the "naaah" side of the "do I bother getting up" threshold. So, a mid-5 every sixty years or so doesn't seem so bad, even if it is a record-breaker.

I call bullshiat on California's supposed jadedness. I've lived in San Francisco for nearly 11 years, and we've only had one quake bigger than a 5 during that time. Whenever something bigger than a 3.5 strikes around here, it's big news and people get all wound up and on edge. We like to pretend we're too cool to get riled up over quakes, but we're big pussies in the end.

Being that southern California is more exposed to bedrock, particularly San Diego, our earthquakes are less worrisome and more "that was fun, can we do it again?" Yeah, the big ones will make the local news for a couple of days, but the excitement quickly turns to "meh," how quick being inversely proportional to the magnitude of the quake. ;)

/which explains why 5's barely keep our interest for a couple days, and 7's we're excited about over a year later :D

I'd wondered which fault line threw the quake (and what has been having a TRULY impressive quake swarm as of late--yes, it's still throwing off 4+ quakes and was throwing 4- and 5-pointers before the 5.6 last night).

This also makes me a bit worried:

a) I'm hoping all of this isn't foreshocks to a Right Proper Earthquake--and I think Oklahoma's seismic codes may be worse than out on the East Coast (where even a six-pointer caused some non-negligible damage).

b) This had better not wake up New Madrid or the Wabash Fault, both of which would have me as Screwed Without Lube in the event those go off...

FredaDeStilleto: It's too early for the west coast farkers to begin the usual "I'd have slept through that" crap. So that's something Oklahoma residents can be thankful for.

Came across an article about the October 2010 quake in that area. Seemed to imply that it was caused by gas and oil drilling/disposal wells and not by plate shifting.

Nah, I wouldn't have slept through it. I'd have been giggling and talking about roller coasters.

/Then again, I am a strange person.
//Hope everyone's okay.

Somacandra: Captain Steroid: Dammit, which one of you FARKers opened the Ark of the Covenant?!

Its Oklahoma. Must be teh gheys.

Seriously? Indians are the majority in that state, and I can tell you the number of tribes that have a hangup on sexual orientation on one hand in unary (and if you look back in history, this isn't something new). Heck, those Westboro clowns had their windows smashed and tires slashed when they protested a gay soldier's funeral in McAlester, and the whole farking city turned up to counterprotest.

Congratulations on knowing nothing about a place and then making gross assumptions. Got any more you care to share?

save russian jews: THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR BEATING KSU

That's what KSU gets for sucking. Seriously, pull together a football team and you might be able to beat Oklahoma at some point. Maybe.

basemetal: Farked_In_The_Head: Feel free to continue on with your "homophobic, trailer park dwelling, flyover state" comments though. None of that applies to where I was born and raised but if people keep thinking these stereotypes, it keeps them out of the state. More for the rest of us.

/hated OK when I was younger
//love it now....beautiful landscape, low cost of living, lots to do and the friendliest people around
///but you'll continue to slam it anyway, even though you've never been here....carry on.

Shhhhhhhh, I don't want them moving here, especially the Californians.......

lol, too late; I worked in real estate for a couple of years and guess where the majority of the people moving here were from? CA. But yeah, we need to keep how great this state is on the down low. Let people think we still play cowboy and indians and have teepees. Sheesh people are stupid.

//lotta love for fellow Okies in this thread though; we should grab a beer sometime.

DingleberryMoose: [www.rivalwear.com image 173x225]

If this keeps happening, they'll just pick up and move.

Cute shirt. Not entirely accurate, but still funny.

People were sleeping when the quake occurred? I couldn't be the only wasted one when the quake happened.

that1guy77: Either way, when it swings to the San Andreas fault line with a 7+, shiat is gonna get scary real quick.

Arizona called, they want their bay back.

/learn to swim.

FredaDeStilleto: It's too early for the west coast farkers to begin the usual "I'd have slept through that" crap. So that's something Oklahoma residents can be thankful for.

As a West Coast Farker, I would like to say... that would have had me woken and a little bit worried.

It's the ones less than 5 we make fun of.

RatOmeter: I felt it at about 10 to 11:00. Pretty impressive. It went "wohm, wohm, wohm, Wohm, WOhm, WOHM, WOHM, WOhm, Wohm, wohm, wohm, wohm" at approximately 2 Hz. Shook the house right good, it did.

Can't wait for tornado season come spring!

That competes with fall for my favorite season in Oklahoma.

Bio-nic: Though when San Andreas pops and unzips cali like a prom queens dress after the party I will admit I may giggle a little...

/if only to get rid of LA....

The whole western half could go. The worst part is that Californians are too stupid to even realize that the Bay Area and the LA/Orange/SD area have no appreciable differences when compared to the massive differences you see when you get east of the centerline of the state.

skantea: SF Bay Area had a 3.2 yesterday. No that's not "normal". Normal would be one that size every couple of years, but in the last three weeks we've also had a 3.7 and a 4.2 in the exact same spot.

If you have family on the West coast you might as well reconnect...just in case.


/hell yeah I'm paranoid!

Why? I'd be more worried if the fault wasn't having that kind of activity. Meanwhile, I'm just hoping I can get out of Portland and back to Tulsa before things start moving again, since Portland usually gets a 2.x every day pretty consistently, and it hasn't moved in a week now.

Farked_In_The_Head: lol, too late; I worked in real estate for a couple of years and guess where the majority of the people moving here were from? CA.

Well over 10% of the US population lives in California. It shouldn't be a shock that a lot of Californians move everywhere.

Except Detroit.

Oafmeel: I'll bet the west coast earthquake hardasses shiat themselves at the sight of a tornado...

Hah, my initiation to the midwest was three days after arriving in Tulsa. And found myself in the F4 that hit Great Bend in summer 2010. Like, good thing we parked the car in a stone wall alleyway because everything outside the alleyway got rocked in a manner not substantially different from a hurricane. Tornadoes, they do not bother me anymore. I like chasing them now.

QT_3.14159: I'm pretty sure all these earthquakes are due to the fracking and natural gas drilling they're doing like crazy out here. It's the only thing that really makes sense. We don't have any real fault lines.

Other than the one that all these quakes are happening on. Go read up on the USGS website about the geology in the area.

DingleberryMoose: Tsar_Bomba1: DingleberryMoose: [www.rivalwear.com image 173x225]

If this keeps happening, they'll just pick up and move.



My Grandfather who passed away 2 years ago at 103 came to Oklahoma in a covered wagon... when it wasn't even a state.

My grandfather came to Texas in a Conestog as a kid, prior to the depression. I missed telling Texas jokes instead of Oklahoma jokes by about 200 miles. There's really not that much difference between any of the states in much of the middle of the country, as far as attitudes go. Clean up your own mess, feed your own family, call if your house gets blown over in a tornado. It's an interesting mix of self-sufficiency expectations and willingness to help people when they need it. It's just fun to pick on Oklahoma. Truth be told, Oklahoma's half the reason it's windy in the Texas panhandle: Oklahoma sucks and New Mexico blows.

You got it all wrong... Texas sucks so hard it sticks to Oklahoma and New Mexico. Both would like their bay back.

Crocodilly_Pontifex: So west coast farkers, if you're in a building that was not built to withstand earthquakes, is a 5.6 scary?

Will it withstand a tornado? If so, not really.