http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/quake-oklahoma-oil-hub-prompts-infrastructure-concerns-43351330
[Irony: the major threat to oil supply in North America might be
fracking to produce natural gas.
video in on-line article]
Official: 40 to 50 Buildings Damaged in Oklahoma Quake
By justin juozapavicius, associated press
CUSHING, Okla. — Nov 7, 2016, 2:38 PM ET
Dozens of buildings sustained "substantial damage" after a 5.0
magnitude earthquake struck an Oklahoma town that's home to one of the
world's key oil hubs, but officials said Monday that no damage has been
reported at the oil terminal.
Cushing City Manager Steve Spears said 40 to 50 buildings were damaged
in Sunday's earthquake, which was the third in Oklahoma this year with a
magnitude of 5.0 or greater. No major injuries have been reported, and
Spears said the damage included cracks to buildings and fallen bricks
and facades.
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. Sunday'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 about
50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City to keep gawkers away late Sunday,
and geologists confirmed that several small quakes have rumbled the
area. Spears said an assisted living community had been evacuated after
damage was reported. The Cushing Public School District canceled Monday
classes.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation reported Sunday 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. Sunday and was felt as far away as Iowa,
Illinois and Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey initially said Sunday'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."
In recent years, Oklahoma regulators have asked oil and gas producers to
either close wastewater injection wells or cut back on the volume of
fluids injected. The reductions have generally led to a drop-off in
quakes and their severity, though not always.
Oklahoma's strongest quake on record, a magnitude 5.8 temblor on Sept.
3, occurred in Pawnee, on the fringe of an area that had already
restricted wastewater disposal. Shortly afterward, geologists speculated
on whether the temblor occurred on a previously unknown fault.
Cushing's 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."
Cushing Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frazier said two pipeline
companies had reported no trouble as of late Sunday but that the
community hadn't heard from all companies. Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted that
no damage was reported at the storage tanks at Cushing's oil storage
terminal
Megan Gustafson and Jonathan Gillespie were working at a Cushing
McDonald's when the quake hit.
"It felt like a train was going right through the building, actually,"
Gustafson, 17, said Sunday night as she and her co-workers stood behind
a police barricade downtown, looking for damage. "I kind of freaked out
and was hyperventilating a bit."
Gillespie said the building shook for about 10 seconds, but that he
wasn't as alarmed as Gustafson because he lives in an area that has
experienced multiple earthquakes, especially in recent years.
"I didn't think it was anything new," he said.
According to USGS data, there have been about two dozen earthquakes in
Oklahoma in the past week. When particularly strong quakes hit, the
Oklahoma Corporation Commission directs well operators to cease
wastewater injections or reduce volume.
"I was at home doing some work in my office and, basically, you could
feel the whole house sway some," Spears, the Cushing city manager, said
Sunday night. "It's beginning to become normal."
=======================================================================
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/oklahoma-earthquake-1.3839394
[images in on-line article]
Oklahoma quake strikes near one of world's largest oil storage terminals
No adverse reports from pipeline companies but town of Cushing suffers
'quite a bit of damage'
The Associated Press Posted: Nov 06, 2016 9:50 PM ET Last Updated: Nov
07, 2016 9:10 AM ET
A sharp earthquake centred near one of the world's key oil hubs Sunday
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.
City Manager Steve Spears said a few minor injuries were reported and
questioned whether some of the community's century-old buildings might
be unsafe. Police cordoned off older parts of the town to keep away gawkers.
"Stay out of the area," Spears told residents during a late-night news
conference.
Emergency officials evacuated an assisted living centre catering to the
elderly in Cushing.
Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frazier said that while damage was
reported at the Cimarron Tower after the quake, no injuries were
reported among the home's residents.
It wasn't immediately known how many people lived at the building in
downtown Cushing. Tulsa television station KOTV said some of those taken
from the home were moved to the Cushing Youth Center.
Frazier said the temblor caused the most damage in and around Cushing's
century-old downtown. A number of brick facades had collapsed, and
window panes in several buildings shattered. Frazier said city leaders
could do a better assessment after sun-up.
'I don't want to have another one'
Cindy Roe, 50, has lived in Cushing all her life and said she's never
felt anything like Sunday's quake.
"I thought my whole trailer was going to tip over, it was shaking it so
bad," she said. "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."
Megan Gustafson and Jonathan Gillespie were working a shift at a
McDonald's in Cushing when the quake hit.
"It felt like a train was going right through the building, actually,"
Gustafson, 17, said Sunday night as she and her co-workers stood behind
a police barricade downtown, looking for damage. "I kind of freaked out
and was hyperventilating a bit."
Gillespie, also 17, described the building as shaking for about 10
seconds or so.
But he said he wasn't as alarmed as Gustafson because he lives in an
area that has experienced multiple earthquakes, especially in recent years.
"I didn't think it was anything new," he said.
Felt in Iowa, Illinois, Texas
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."
The Cushing Police Department reported "quite a bit of damage" in the
town of 7,900. Spears said some damage was superficial — bricks falling
off facades — but that some older buildings might have damaged
foundations that would be difficult to assess until daylight.
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.
The Cushing Public School District has cancelled classes Monday in order
to assess the earthquake damage.
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. Sunday's quake was centred about two kilometres west
of Cushing — and about 40 kilometres south of where a magnitude 4.3
quake forced a shutdown of several wells last week.
Spears said at the news conference that earthquakes are no longer out of
the ordinary.
"I was at home doing some work in my office and, basically, you could
feel the whole house sway some. It's beginning to become normal," Spears
said. "Nothing surprises you anyway."
The U.S. Geological Survey said initially that Sunday's quake was of
magnitude 5.3 but later lowered the reading to 5.0.
According to USGS data, there have been 19 earthquakes in Oklahoma in
the past week. When particularly strong quakes hit, the Oklahoma
Corporation Commission directs well operators to cease wastewater
injections or reduce volume.
A 5.8 earthquake — a record for Oklahoma — hit Pawnee on Sept. 3.
Shortly afterward, geologists speculated on whether the temblor occurred
on a previously unknown fault.
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