Rattled by quake aftershocks, Oklahoma now braces for storms

That was some earthquake with a lot of shaking after the OU/A&M game.  First one struck very early that morning which a lot of people didn't really feel.  The one Saturday night we all felt.  Kind of strange to see this article and picture in the LA Times when we lived there for over four years and felt no earthquakes during that time.  Felt one in MA after we were transferred and two in Ohio but now this is the 3rd one in OK -- first was rolling late last year, one was fairly short on Saturday morning, but this one Saturday night left me holding on to a chair to prop myself up with hold the doors to the china cabinet shut. It sounded like a freight train or a plane very low flying right before it hit. Hope to never feel another one.  That one shook really hard and for a long time.  

There is a saying in Oklahoma that if you don't like the weather just wait and it will change.  It rained this morning, sun is out now and they are talking about severe weather later.  This year we set a record for snowfall in one day, number of days over 100 degrees, and now the largest earthquake ever in Oklahoma.  

It is a beautiful state with bright blue skies most days and now with the trees changing color, fall is here and it is gorgeous.  One good thing is that we are getting rain we missed out on this summer with all the heat.

Now we have joined the states that make national news with an earthquake -- this one I wouldn't have minded missing!

Rattled by quake aftershocks, Oklahoma now braces for storms

November 7, 2011 | 9:18 am

St. Gregory's University in Shawnee, OK after earthquake

Aftershocks from two powerful weekend earthquakes centered in Oklahoma have continued to rattle the area, and weather experts warned that some of the same areas of the state were likely to be struck by dangerous thunderstorms and tornadoes Monday.

At least 17 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or greater have been recorded since the biggest quake of the weekend, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That record-setting 5.6 temblor occurred at 10:53 p.m. CDT on Saturday, with an epicenter in Sparks, Okla., about 55 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
The quake, the state's strongest in recorded history, damaged 14 buildings and buckled a highway, but left only two people with minor injuries, emergency managers said Monday. It was felt as far away as Wisconsin and South Carolina, Reuters reported.

The largest aftershock, a 4.0 quake, was reported Sunday in Meeker, about 40 miles east of the capital.
Before the record-setting temblor, a 4.7 quake had hit earlier that same day, in the center of the state near the rural town of Prague. Two aftershocks of 3.3 and 3.4 were reported in that area late Sunday.

Researchers at the Oklahoma Geological Survey have set up additional seismographs along the fault where the quakes originated, called the Wilzetta fault or Seminole uplift. They warned nearby residents to expect more aftershocks.

Meanwhile, meteorologists at Accuweather predicted an outbreak of "potentially damaging" thunderstorms
and tornadoes in the southern Plains on Monday.

"While spring is by far the most active time of the year for severe weather and tornadoes, there is a second severe weather season that develops in the fall," said Heather Buchman, an Accuweather meteorologist.
Hail-producing thunderstorms were expected in west-central Oklahoma and Texas on Monday morning, followed by numerous "violent thunderstorms" and possibly tornadoes later in the day, according to Accuweather.

The thunderstorms were expected to head east Monday night, toward Tulsa and McAlester, Okla.; Dallas and Austin, Texas.

On the plus side, the thunderstorms are expected to bring much-needed rain to parts of Texas and Oklahoma that continue to suffer from a long-running drought.

Source:  LA Times