UPDATE: NOVEMBER 6, 2011 2:15AM

5.6 magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma buckles highway, cracks buildings but leaves residents virtually unscathed

Quake's epicenter hit 44 miles northeast of Oklahoma City

BY The Associated Press
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, November 6 2011, 1:41 AM

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck central Oklahoma Saturday evening, about 44 miles east of Oklahoma City (shown here).

J.P. Wilson/Bloomberg News

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck central Oklahoma Saturday evening, about 44 miles east of Oklahoma City (photo from 2009).

SPARKS, Okla. (AP) - A 5.6 magnitude quake rocked central Oklahoma late Saturday after a day of smaller quakes, leaving cracked buildings and a buckled highway but no initial reports of major damage. The temblor was so strong it rattled a packed college football stadium 50 miles away and could be felt in Tennessee.

The quake, centered about 44 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, may be the strongest in state history if the reading is confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey after the agency initially reported a 5.2 magnitude event. Emergency authorities said they had no immediate reports of injuries or major damages.

But the quake shook a major college stadium as fans departed just minutes after third-ranked Oklahoma State had beaten No. 17 Kansas State.

"That shook up the place, had a lot of people nervous," Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon said. "Yeah, it was pretty strong."

An emergency manager in Lincoln County near the epicenter said U.S. 62, a highway in the region, had crumbled in places when the strongest quake of the day struck at 10:53 p.m. Saturday. Other reports in the early hours Sunday were sketchy and mentioned cracks in some buildings and a chimney toppled.

The USGS said the Saturday night quake struck near the community of Sparks — in eastern Oklahoma between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

The temblor shook the stadium at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater where a crowd of 58,895 had gathered to watch a down-to-the-wire major college match. Oklahoma State's players were gathered in the locker room under the Boone Pickens Stadium stands just minutes after their victory when the ground began to shake. It lasted the better part of a minute, rippling upward to the stadium press box as the stands were clearing out of fans.

"Everybody was looking around and no one had any idea," Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden said. "We thought the people above us were doing something. I've never felt one, so that was a first."
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake that struck the area early Saturday rattled homes and businesses, but emergency officials said no injuries were reported and that there had been no immediate reports of major damages.

Oklahoma's largest quake buckles highway; 1 injured

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 3:54 AM EST, Sun November 6, 2011

Several homes in Oklahoma were damaged after a strong earthquake struck late Saturday near Sparks, Oklahoma.

(CNN) -- Crews in central Oklahoma were out early Sunday morning assessing for damage from the largest quake to hit the state since record-keeping began.

The 5.6-magnitude quake struck 4 miles east of Sparks in Lincoln County at 11:53 p.m. ET Saturday.

No major injuries were reported, but the quake caused at least three sections of U.S. Route 62 to buckle, said Aaron Bennett of the Lincoln County 911 and emergency management.

A boulder rolled into a rural county road, blocking it.

Crews also reported some structural damage, including a roof collapse and a damaged ventilation system in a municipal building.

"They're reporting that all the houses look like they've been ransacked," Bennett said of the assessment crews.

At least one person was taken to a hospital in Prague with minor injuries, he said.

The man hit his head against a wall when he tripped and fell while trying to run out of his house, Bennett said.

In Broken Arrow, resident Bubba Fernandez said the earth shook for a full minute when the quake struck.

"It was at least a minute," Fernandez told CNN affiliate KTUL. "Upstairs, my kid's trophy, the piano upstairs, the little tassels on the fan -- it was at least a minute"

Some 200 miles away in Garland, Texas, resident Noel Kennedy said he felt the quake.

"I heard stuff rattling. Mirrors were shaking," he said.

The Saturday night quake struck the same area where a 4.7-magnitude quake struck just hours earlier -- at 3:12 a.m. ET Saturday.

*************************END UPDATE********************************

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 5, 2011

US Geological Survey: 3 earthquakes shake central Oklahoma; no damage, injuries reported

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, November 5, 3:01 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Authorities say three earthquakes that have shaken much of central Oklahoma could be felt as far away as Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.
The U.S. Geological Survey says on its website early Saturday morning that a 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck at 2:12 a.m., with an epicenter about six miles north of Prague in southern Lincoln County. That’s about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City.

A 3.4 magnitude aftershock was reported at 2:27 a.m. from the same location.

The survey says a 2.7 magnitude quake also was recorded at 2:44 a.m.

READ MORE AT...WASHINGTON POST

weatherchannel

4.7 earthquake earlier this morning abt 46 miles E of Okla City. It ties for 2nd strongest OK quake on record. yfrog.com/kkkm8ypbj

************************END UPDATE*****************************************

Be watching the New Madrid Fault...

The screenshot captures below are from College of Dupage (visible satellite view 11/1/2011 3-7pm CDT) .
Plumes from south of Sullivan Missouri…. south east to near Portageville.. then due south through the town of New Madrid— into Central eastern Arkansas, Memphis TN, Paducah KY — south through Mississippi into Louisiana !
Shots from Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas:

Next we see shots from Missouri / Arkansas:

============================================================
This first video seen below is real time satellite event: thanks to youtube user paytreeitusa
http://www.youtube.com/user/paytreeitusa

here are some shots of the charts for the area.. CLEARLY you can see the harmonic tremors / deep earth movement for multiple hours !
(links are below at the bottom of this post in the earthquake links section – CERI midwest charts)
First charts are from Arkansas:

Charts from Missouri:

Warning issued of potential for catastrophic New Madrid fault earthquake

Earthquakes are a common part of life in California. Towns are prepared for major seismic events and most residents consider earthquake safety an important issue. But in the Midwest, people rarely think of the large New Madrid fault zone underneath their feet.

According to seismologists, major New Madrid earthquakes are rare. When one eventually occurs, however, it could be catastrophic. So how do small towns that line the New Madrid fault zone and the businesses operating in the region improve earthquake preparedness when immediate risk and awareness are low and budgets are stretched?

"Unfortunately earthquake safety in the Midwest is event driven - most people will not begin to care about the risk until an earthquake happens," says David Gillespie, Ph.D., disaster preparedness expert and professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Town leaders need to think long-term - 25 or 50 years out - about incremental improvements in safety measures that can be sustained. This is a different kind of planning, but it is necessary to be ready for the eventual catastrophic quake that will strike."

Reelfoot Rift and the New Madrid Seismic Zone in a 3D topographic image........................................................................................................

Magnetic potential map of the Reelfoot Rift

The New Madrid Seismic Zone (pronounced /nuː ˈmɑːdrɪd/), sometimes called the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes (earthquakes within a tectonic plate) in the southern and midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri. The New Madrid fault system was responsible for the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes and may have the potential to produce large

earthquakes in the future. Since 1812 frequent smaller earthquakes were recorded in the area.^[1]
Earthquakes that occur in the New Madrid Seismic Zone potentially threaten parts of seven American states: Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.^[2]

Geographic extent

The 150-mile (240 km) long fault system, which extends into five states, stretches southward from Cairo, Illinois; through Hayti, Caruthersville and New Madrid in Missouri; through Blytheville into Marked Tree in Arkansas. It also covers a part of West Tennessee, near Reelfoot Lake, extending southeast into Dyersburg.
Most of the seismicity is located between 3 and 15 miles (4.8 and 24 km) beneath the Earth's surface.

^{read more here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Fault}

This is part of a 4 part series of videos. You are welcome to watch all four to get the horror of what MAY or MIGHT happen. This is of course made for the shock value and therefore pictures of disaster upon disaster flash across the screen. However, we all just need to take a collective breath and realize that disasters happen and we need to use the emergency preparedness options available to us to prepare for such disasters. How long have earthquakes been around? Forever. And guess what?! We are still here. Man is still here. Emergency preparedness will only increase the chances that any disaster will be less of a catastrophe for you and your household.

There should be no fear if you just do your best to prepare.

Issues On Call

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Sunday, November 6, 2011

UPDATE NOVEMBER 6, 2011: OKLAHOMA 5.6 EARTHQUAKE...New Madrid Fault Seismic Activitiy