A magnitude 5.0 earthquake centered near one of the world's key oil hubs brought down building facades and shattered windows in a central Oklahoma city, rendering century-old buildings unsafe and raising concerns about key infrastructure.
As the sun rose today, television news footage showed widespread, substantial damage to buildings, with piles of bricks and other debris littering the ground following the earthquake the previous evening.
Cushing Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frazier told a news conference late Sunday that a few minor injuries had been reported. He said the damage appeared to be contained downtown.
Oklahoma has had thousands of earthquakes in recent years, with nearly all traced to the underground injection of wastewater left over from oil and gas production.
Yesterday's quake was centered 1 mile west of Cushing and about 25 miles south of where a magnitude 4.3 quake forced a shutdown of several wells last week.
Fearing aftershocks, police cordoned off older parts of the city to keep gawkers away late yesterday, and geologists confirmed that several small quakes have rumbled the area.
Frazier said an assisted living community had been evacuated after damage was reported. The Cushing Public School District canceled today classes.
"Stay out of the area," said City Manager Steve Spears, who noted that while some damage was superficial, compromised foundations and other potential problems would be difficult to assess until daylight in the city of 7,900 about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation reported yesterday night that no highway or bridge damage was found within a 15-mile radius of the earthquake's epicenter.
The quake struck at 7:44 p.M. Yesterday and was felt as far away as Iowa, Illinois and Texas. The US Geological Survey initially said yesterday's quake was of magnitude 5.3 but later lowered the reading to 5.0.
"I thought my whole trailer was going to tip over, it was shaking it so bad," said Cushing resident Cindy Roe, 50. "It was loud and all the lights went out and you could hear things falling on the ground.
"It was awful and I don't want to have another one." Cushing's oil storage terminal is one of the world's largest. As of October 28, tank farms in the countryside around Cushing held 58.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. The community bills itself as the "Pipeline Crossroads of the World."
Frazier said two pipeline companies had reported no trouble as of late yesterday but that the community hadn't heard from all companies.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
