Yup! 4.5 mag - originating 10 miles E. of Norman, so I bet you really felt it. Reports of broken windows in downtown OKC. My neighbor's friend in south OKC said things fell off walls and shelves.

Whew!

Susan

Yep. It shook our place pretty good for a few seconds. I haven't checked with the news yet...where was it centered out of--do you know?

It shook my house and windows here in Broken Arrow. You never forget the feeling of an earthquake! Last one I remember, I was a child.

we felt it here in the tulsa area...lots of shaking up and down more that rolling side to side...i lived in CA for a number of years, and i couldn't feel them if they weren't over 4, so i knew it had to be at least that!

Thanks Susan for the info :-) I'm pretty far from Norman/OKC area but I felt it too.

I felt it! Nothing shook here, but I had my arm on my desk and I could feel it rumbling. When it kept going on, I realized it was my first earthquake!

Lisa

We were rockin' and rollin' up here in Edmond. Whoo-Hoo!

Well, I didn't feel it. Nothing good ever happens here, and y'all have all the excitement up there. We're quiet and boring down here. lol

It wouldn't surprise me if someone in southern OK felt it, but I didn't.

This one is quite a bit stronger than the ones y'all usually get up there in central OK, right?

I know that a few days ago, there was a quake in either Wisconsin or Minnesota that caused a small hill to rise up on someone's property, and also left a big crack in the ground. Mother Earth has been shaking a bit lately!

I've linked the USGS site that gives the currently-known info about this quake. This is preliminary info. They often come back and revise it after further review of scientific data.

Maybe a little more quaking and shaking would send all the gophers and moles fleeing for a quieter area.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: USGS Data on Today's Earthquake

I've grown rather bored with the recent year's earthquakes, and have stopped straightening the pictures on the walls. But I have to tell you, THIS ONE GOT MY ATTENTION. I counted onethousand one, onethousand two, just like always. But after two it occurred to me the doorway was the place to be, so I got there in a hurry. And it continued on. And on. It really only lasted to the count of onethousand eleven, but trust me, that feels much longer in earthquake time. There is the very clear reealization that there's not a darn thing you can do.

I've always heard the place to be during an earthquake is in a bamboo patch. Apparently the roots grow in a grid pattern and are exceptionally strong. I believe it because my neighbor invited me to dig some up so I could get a start here in my yard - Black Bamboo. I gave up after about 30 minutes. It was virtually immobile and impenetrable,

Dawn, I heard it was felt in Dallas!

Susan

P-mac - I think you will be glad you were at work and not out home. When I tracked down the center it was really close to your house.

Seedmama - Sorry you had a bit of a scare....but also sorry that I do not believe that you have stopped straightening pictures. LOL

Susan,

I have seen reports in the Dallas-Fort Worth media saying many people there reported feeling the tremor, and also reports from as far west as Parker County, TX (Weatherford and Aledo area) and also Wichita Falls, TX. Local media reports here in southcentral OK say folks in Bryan, Love and Carter counties, among others, reported feeling it. Guess maybe I was just clueless but I know I didn't feel or notice a thing and neither did Tim.

Of course, the people in Texas could have been mistaken. Maybe they were just feeling all the Texas Ranger fans jumping up and down celebrating the playoff game and series win last night over Tampa Bay.

All kidding aside, the OGS has analyzed the data and now says your little shaker up there was a 5.1 and not a 4.3 or 4.5 as previously reported. (The USGS still shows a 4.3.) A 5.1 sounds fairly significant.

Do you folks up there have earthquake insurance included in your homeowner's policies?

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: OGS Upgrades Quake to 5.1

I was on the 4th floor of the Cleveland Co Courthouse. It really shook up there. Swayed for a bit after the shaking stopped. Scary stuff.

Soonergrandmom, you are VERY funny. It's true, I'm wound pretty tight. But just because I count my beans it doesn't mean I haven't stopped straightening pictures. Too many things with higher priority. While I still keep kitchen and bathrooms sanitary, I have stopped dusting more than once a year. I dust in detail the first week of November, then call it quits. By the time Halloween rolls around, I'm fully decorated with no extra effort. Try to convince me that uptight Martha person is as clever as that! Work smart, not hard.

Carol - I KNOW, RIGHT???? I think I would have been horribly scared. My MIL & FIL were! They've taken a walk around our place and it doesn't appear we have any broken windows or water lines, thank God. Now, when I get home...I may suddenly have a "step-down" living room or bathroom...and maybe a few things have fallen off shelves.

and Dawn - it's anything but boring down your way!!! Who's the one that had a visit from a cougar in her garden last year??? LOL! And btw - Seedmama and I were talking this morning and yes, some people have earthquake insurance. You would know our resident bean counter would make sure she has her bases covered!

See what happens when I leave Oklahoma? Huh? Do you?

Paula and the rest of you OKC dwellers, glad you don't seem to have any damage!

Diane

I'm thinking that those of you who are seeing mole tunnels really aren't seeing mole tunnels, you're seeing miniature earthquake fault lines.

Paula, be sure y'all sniff carefully for the unpleasant aroma of gas in the air. I would think an earthquake this strong might break a gas line here or there and it is better to find it before it finds you. When I saw the actual location of today's quake, I was thinking how lucky you were to be at work and not at home at the time. Carol and I think a lot alike sometimes, but that's because we're Fort Worth girls....it must be something in the water.

Of course our resident beancounter would have all the bases covered! I'd expect nothing less. At the rate y'all keep having flash floods, ice storms, tornadoes, monster hail and earthquakes up there, it is a wonder your insurance premiums aren't skyrocketing.

On the topic of straightening pictures, do you mean they're supposed to be straightened? Uh oh. I was afraid of that. As for cobwebs, I let them grow all year and then dust/vaccum to remove them after Halloween. It saves me from having to buy those silly fake cobwebs sold at craft stores.

Paula, we don't say that cat word here on our property for fear of jinxing ourselves. Nothing has visited my garden this year except for a gray fox, a few bobcats and a ton of snakes. I'd almost rather have an unmentionable big kitty than a lot of snakes. This is a case of hoping that nothing of interest will visit the garden unless it is a rare butterfly or songbird or something.

Diane, you're not surprised, right? You knew we'd fall apart when y'all left. And, um, have you looked at the maps to see how close your new place is/is not to the two closest active seizmic zones? See the link.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1132968}}

Dawn - home from work and I've been opening doors and turning on faucets. No damage. No step-down living room! Nothing fell off of shelves. Went outside and a few things fell over that were propped against the house. I sniffed all around the propane tank and where I think the lines are. All I smell is dirt. Does propane smell like natural gas?

Seedmama called me this morning to tell me after the May tornado and now this, I've got to GET OUT of Norman! LOL! It's all been too close for comfort.

Diane - I think you're far enuf away from that Madrid fault, aren't you?? I checked the link Dawn gave and you might feel a few shakes if it were a big one...but tell me if I'm wrong so I can start worrying. You can maybe take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can't take Oklahoma out of the girl. See? You're stuck with us!

Glad everyone else is safe & no damage!

Paula

Paula, Glad to hear you didn't suffer any damage. As close as it was to you there, I was concerned.

I called DS at work and asked him if propane gas has an additive that makes it smell similar to natural gas, and he said "it should" and "it usually does" but the only way to be 100% sure is to check with your propane supplier. He said that normally a compound is added to natural gas or propane gas to give it that smell, and the compound most often used is ethyl mercaptan, which is the same thing they add to natural gas. So, if you're not smelling anything noxious, that's a good sign.

Don't blame poor ol' Norman. It isn't Norman's fault. And, anyway, I am not sure Seedmama is in a much safer location...she is not all that far away from you. Anywhere in central OK seems to be a hotbed of exciting weather and geological phenomenon.

Now, y'all could move down here where all we have are occasional mostly weak tornadoes (the one close to our house in Sept. was an F-0...an F-zero....how pitiful), occasional wildfires and a big river flood once every 10 or 20 years (though very, very few houses are close enough to the river for that to be an issue....mostly just cow pastures flood). We're just dull, dull, dull down here and we like it that way.

On tonight's news, they showed Video of a "Big 12" blogger who was filming himself as he made his picks for this week's football games when the earthquake happened....so I got to see it and hear it....and it was loud! Wow! I would have thought a truck hit the building or something.

Diane is stuck with us forever, isn't she? I hope she considers that a good thing and not a bad thing!

I hope everyone is OK and had no damage. There's a lot of folks in the OKC-Norman area we haven't heard from in a while.

Dawn

Wish something would shake up the Ozarks Forum. Really nothing damaging though.

You guys are just so funny! We felt it at work (near NW Expy and Hefner Parkway), and later in the day I talked to a guy who works on the 16th floor of the Union Bank building, which is an 18-story building, and he said the building swayed. Now that would be scary! We did add earthquake coverage earlier this year just because of all the quakes around Jones. I kind of figured if they're that close, that's close enough to pay a little extra for the coverage. That video that the blogger in Norman made is pretty amazing, especially because you can actually hear the earthquake. Our son in Edmond said he thought something hit the house, and also it reminded him of the way it felt when the Murrah building was bombed.

Suzie

Tulsa area - Slept right through it. Noticed a 14" ceramic pot stuffed full of a tropical Hibiscus was turned over on my front porch and thought what the Heck? Maybe it was the tremor?...I lived in Los Angeles during the 1971 earthquake that killed close to 70 people and registered a 6.6. An earthquake is the scariest thing I've ever managed to live through (by the grace of God). I thought when I moved to Oklahoma I'd left that behind.

Beerhog, lol That was a good one. I'm surprised some of the folks on your forum don't have some of these little earthquakes too, considering the location of the New Madrid seizmic zone.

Suzie, I was feeling "left out" since I didn't feel the quake down here, and then I saw that video blog and heard that big boom and decided that being left out was OK with me! I never realized you could hear a boom like that with an earthquake. (It sort of adds a whole new dimension to "Boomer Sooner" now, doesn't it?) I can see why the sound reminded your son of the bombing of the Murrah federal building, and imagine he wasn't the only person who had that thought cross his mind.

Mary, Having never even experienced the tiniest quake, I cannot even imagine what it would feel like to experience a big one. I bet the quake did turn over your hibiscus. Some people 80-100 miles south of me felt it, but we didn't feel it here at our house.

I am just glad all of y'all are alright and also glad the quake wasn't worse. There have been so many small quakes the last 2 or 3 years that it just makes me wonder if a larger one is coming up there in central OK. I certainly hope that does not happen.

Dawn

My neighbor and I both heard the "boom". At first, I just thought it was like a "sonic boom", the ones we used to hear when jet planes were overhead (I don't hear them as much anymore). Then my neighbor called me and told me it was an earthquake. California can just have these earthquakes back, if you ask me.

Susan

Susan, I could be wrong about this, but I don't think California wants them back!

Dawn

LOL

Beerhog, I had to laugh when I read that about the Ozarks Forum!

I have almost given up on it...........then a few of us try once again....I just know there are more dedicated gardeners in the Ozarks........maybe they just don't like computers!

That is why I love this Oklahoma group. Nothing static over here.

glenda

i didn't feel it. i hate earthquakes and was glad to get out of california.

Mary, Your LOL made me lol because I knew that you'd appreciate that statement.

Glenda, So what you and Beerhog are telling us is that your forum is quieter than usual right now? We like to talk here, and we'll talk about weather and everything else when the actual gardening "action" slows down. We love having you Ozark folks posting here---the more folks, the merrier.

Jessaka, I'd rather put up with torrential rain, tornadoes, huge hail, drought and wildfires here in OK than have to live with the possibility that an earthquake, especially a big one, could happen at any time.

It does sort of surprise me how many small quakes Oklahoma has had the last few years, but then we have every other odd thing here, so why not an earthquake too.

Dawn

I have been confused by everyone who said it started with a big noise. I have experienced several earthquakes (thankfully no big ones) and I don't remember hearing a big noise.

Once in Alaska, I was on the phone with a 'lower 48 salesman' and I asked him to hold on because we were having an earthquake. Just about the time I said it, the phone line went dead. He called me right back and said, "Do you know what I thought you said? I thought you said you were having an earthquake." I said, "I did say that, and can you hold on for this one too?" I guess it made his day, because he was a lot more excited than I was.

We had one while we lived in Greece. My husband was sitting on the side of the bed putting his shoes on and the bed started swaying and he started yelling. That was his first (but not last) earthquake. I was laughing so hard, because I was looking out the kitchen window and watching a plane on the final approach to the airport and suddenly it struck me funny what it would be like for the pilot to she the ground jumping around.

I have lived in Alaska two different times, so 8 years total, and have experienced quite a few. One of the first ones came in the middle of the night and rocked the bed about 12-14 inches away from the wall. Now that will wake you up.

Carol,

Y'all have lived so many places and had so many fascinating experiences!

Have you see the video of the "Big 12" Video Blogger who was filming his football picks for this week at the exact time the earthquake happened? He was in Norman, so was closer to the epicenter than many others, and I believe you get that noise close to the epicenter because it is the sound of plates of rock grinding or rubbing against one another along the fault line. For some reason, those kinds of earthquake noises are said to be more common in the more northeastern or eastern parts of the USA and not in the western or northwestern portions.

I've linked the local news story below that shows the tape of the Big 12 blogger. You can't miss the loud noise that accompanied the quake. I like the way he looks to either side to see (I suppose) if his house is going to fall down around him.

On a side note, people in the Atoka area thought they were having a quake yesterday, but it was "just" a gas explosion.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Story With Video Blogger's Video Capturing Quake

Many felt the quake because itâÂÂs strange but itâÂÂs not strong. The 4.3 magnitude quake was centered about 3.1 miles below the surface of the earth. I am happy to hear that no significant injuries or damage have been reported by individuals that experienced the tremble earthquake.

Wow, great video!

I went through a few earthquakes when I lived in southern California. Not one of the huge, huge ones but enough to wake me from a sound sleep and put a bit of fear in me.

No quake worries clear up here. We're out of the trouble zone for the New Madrid and Wabash, thankfully! Although, I do have to mention that, since we've moved here, we keep hearing/feeling occasional... explosions? Booms? Very similar to an earthquake in feel but just a short thing. Very weird and we still haven't figured it out. We wondered if we were close to some bombing range but haven't found one. Maybe some bizarre sonic booms? I don't know but it's kind of crazy. LOL

Diane

Diane,

Maybe y'all have some sort or sand or gravel mining areas near you? There's one down on the river northwest of us and they set off explosives there every now and then, even though they aren't supposed to use explosives according to their lease. Once, they really overdid it on the explosives and shattered the windows of a home near them.

We also get occasional sonic booms from military training flights and from military aircraft test flights originating out of Fort Worth.

Dawn

Ah, mining. There's something I hadn't thought of. I'll have to ask around.

Diane

We have some construction blasting that's been going on around us. I'm not sure if I felt the earthquake or not. What I heard was loud and a bit longer than usual.