Earthquake News

November 6, 2016.  A M=5.0 earthquake struck near Cushing, Oklahoma at 7:44 pm local time.  No injuries have been reported, through several buildings in Cushing were damaged.  This was the latest of a long series of earthquakes, the largest (M=5.8) occurring on September 3.  It is likely that this was an induced, or human-caused, earthquake linked to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) or to fluid withdrawal.  The earthquake was located near wastewater disposal wells.

 

October 30, 2016.  Another damaging earthquake (M=6.6) has struck central Italy.  This one was more powerful than the one that struck in the same general area in August and that caused nearly 300 deaths and did major damage to the mountain town of Amatrice.  This is a reminder that an earthquake should not be considered a single event, but that multiple earthquakes, of similar magnitude, can occur over an extended period of time.

 

October 26, 2016.  Two damaging earthquakes occurring within about two hours of each other in central Italy.  A magnitude-5.5 event struck at 17:10 UTC followed by a magnitude-6.1 event at 19:18 UTC.  It is a reminder:  When earthquake shaking occurs, a second, more intense earthquake may occur within hours.

 

October 21, 2017.  A magnitude-6.2 struck at 05:07 UTC (01:07 EDT) today near the city of Kurayoshi in the prefecture of Tottori in western Japan.  The quake was 6 miles in depth.  There are no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning has been issued.