Earthquake In Kansas Yesterday - A magnitude 4.8 earthquake reportedly struck parts of Kansas and Oklahoma at 3:40 p.m. local time Wednesday. It was considered as the largest since a string of quakes started shaking Kansas a little more than a year ago.
Kansas and Oklahoma residents were expecting to shiver because of the coming cold wave but no one was prepared for the trembling that was caused by an earthquake yesterday afternoon. Though CNN reported only minor damages with no injuries, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said 4.8 magnitude quakes are capable of causing moderate damages.
USGS also reported several less intense earthquakes occurred in Kansas yesterday. The epicenter was 33 miles southwest of Wichita and was felt in several other states as far as Irving, Texas. According to NBC News, the Wednesday quake came less than a day after a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded near the southern Kansas town of Anthony.
The only reported damage was from an uprooted tree that cracked a home's foundation, as reported by Kansas Emergency Management Spokesperson Sharon Watson. While the state's Department of Emergency Services Keli Chan said no damage was reported in Oklahoma.
Kansas started experiencing more earthquakes since the fall of 2013. Kansas Geological Survey interim director Rex Buchanan said the state has recorded over 90 earthquakes that ranged from magnitude 1.3 to 4.3 this year. Based on some studies, earthquakes can be caused when a fluid, which is a byproduct of various methods of oil and gas production, is injected into disposal wells.
The earthquake in Kansas yesterday, which was the strongest of eight temblors that shook the seismically active region over 24 hours, was relatively shallow at 3.4 miles deep. According to USA Today, the jolt was felt across much of the state and as far as Tulsa, Oklahoma, about 170 miles away. Some residents in Arkansas also reported the rattling.
Meanwhile, across the border, six earthquakes registering between magnitude 2.6 and 2.9 shook north-central Oklahoma on Wednesday.
The region is at the core of the state's mini oil-and-gas boom involving hydraulic fracturing, generally known as fracking. The state and federal agencies are attempting to determine whether the controversial technique is responsible for the major increase of earthquakes in Kansas over the past two years.
Hours before yesterday's earthquake, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback announced that the state would deploy an $85,000 network of six portable monitors to track the increase in ground movement in Sumner County and its fracking neighbors Harper and Barber counties.
The Kansas governor has also commissioned a panel to conduct studies and showed insufficient evidences to associate the earthquakes in Kansas to oil and gas exploration.
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