A 5.1-magnitude earthquake shook northwest Oklahoma and was felt in seven other states Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The federal agency said the quake was the third-strongest ever recorded in Oklahoma, where the strength and frequency of earthquakes has increased in recent years.
The epicenter was about 17 miles north of Fairview in northwestern Oklahoma. The temblor occurred at 11:07 a.m. and was felt in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas, the Geological Survey said. A second quake, which measured at 3.9 magnitude, struck 10 minutes later, followed at 11:41 a.m. by a 2.5-magnitude quake and at 12:21 p.m. by a 3.5-magnitude temblor.
Oklahoma's stronger and more frequent earthquakes have been linked to oil and gas drilling, in which briny wastewater is injected into the ground at high pressure. All four quakes Saturday were near Fairview, a town of about 2,600 people that's about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. The area has had several quakes of at least magnitude 4 since the start of the year.
Fairview police and the Major County sheriff's office had no reports of injury or significant damage. Sheriff's dispatcher Cheryl Landes said there had been several calls from concerned residents, but the only damage was pictures knocked off shelves and walls.
The strongest earthquake on record in Oklahoma was a magnitude-5.6 centered in Prague, about 55 miles east of Oklahoma City, in November 2011. It has also been linked to wastewater injection. It damaged 200 buildings and shook a college football stadium in Stillwater, about 65 miles away.
The second-strongest was a 5.5-magnitude earthquake in April 1952 that was centered in El Reno, on the western edge of Oklahoma City.
The hundreds of recent quakes have been mostly low to medium strength and have caused limited damage. But several weeks ago, a quake knocked out electricity in parts of an Oklahoma City suburb, and last month about 200 residents packed a forum at the state Capitol to criticize the state's response to the temblors.
Regulators have recommended reducing the volume or shutting down some of the disposal wells. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin last month approved the use of nearly $1.4 million in emergency funds for state agencies working to reduce the number of earthquakes linked to the wastewater disposal.
Oil and gas operators in Oklahoma, where the industry is a major economic and political force, have resisted cutting back on their injections of wastewater.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industries in the state, said Saturday that it has completed the major work on a regional plan to address earthquakes in western Oklahoma.
"The plan will involve a large-scale regional reduction in oil and gas wastewater disposal for an approximately 5,000-square-mile area in western Oklahoma," spokesman Matt Skinner said. He said the complete plan will be released Tuesday.
Metro on 02/14/2016