Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central United States. Oklahoma is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous 50 United States. The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people”.
A sharp earthquake centered near one of the world’s key oil hubs Sunday,6 Nov 2016, night triggered fears that the magnitude 5.0 temblor might have damaged key infrastructure in addition to causing what police described as “quite a bit of damage” in the Oklahoma prairie town of Cushing.
The epicentre of the quake struck the city of Cushing, about 50 miles (80km) northeast of Oklahoma City, at 19:44 local time (01:44 GMT Monday).
Tremors were felt as far away as Texas.
Authorities in Cushing reported “quite of bit of damage”, and schools in the city will be closed on Monday so that buildings can be checked.
Photographs posted on Twitter showed debris scattered alongside commercial buildings in the city.
There have been 19 earthquakes in Oklahoma in the past week, according to data provided by the US Geological Survey.
In September, a magnitude 5.6 quake in the state fuelled concerns that seismic activity in the area was connected to energy production.
In 2013, scientists linked the underground injection of oil drilling wastewater to a magnitude-5.7 earthquake that struck Oklahoma in 2011.
Cushing, which has a population of about 7,900, is home to one of the largest oil storage facilities in the US.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said it and the Oklahoma Geological Survey were investigating after the quake, which struck at 7:44 p.m. and was felt as far away as Iowa, Illinois and Texas.
“The OCC’s Pipeline Safety Department has been in contact with pipeline operators in the Cushing oil storage terminal under state jurisdiction and there have been no immediate reports of any problems,” the commission’s spokesman, Matt Skinner, said in a statement. “The assessment of the infrastructure continues.”
Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frazier said two pipeline companies had reported no trouble but that the community hadn’t heard from all companies.
The oil storage terminal is one of the world’s largest. As of Oct. 28, tank farms in the countryside around Cushing held 58.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The community bills itself as the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World.”
Fearing aftershocks, Police Chief Tully Folden said people needed to stay out of downtown, where photos posted to social media showed piles of debris at the base of commercial buildings.
