It happened about two weeks ago. My weenies woke me and we were on the couch in the living room. At about 7:00am, the sound of a jet's engines began and the weenies started to bark. Then the shaking began. There was a whole lot of shaking going on. Unbelievable rockin' and rollin'. A 5.8 on the Richter scale. This time I knew what was happening. My first thought was that it was the New Madrid Fault rupturing. Last time that happened, it caused the mighty Mississippi River to run backwards. The last New Madrid quake was huge (7 or more) and occurred about 100 years ago. It is past due for a repeat and will be terrible.
Ours lasted for one minute, but seemed longer. I jumped up and ran to the back door to see what the lake out back was doing. It jiggled like a bowl of jello. As the shaking slowed, I heard the sound move away to the south then vanish. It was a trip.
I looked around the house for damage. They say look at the chimney as that will show damage first. I'm looking for cracks in sidewalks and patios and walls etc. A couple of days later, I noticed the overlapped wood on the chimney had fallen loose. Our rooftop is steep and with varied pitches; I don't know what you call it, but we (hubby, as I would have rolled off the roof in seconds) had to borrow a ladder tall enough to get up there and screw the wood down. Not much damage that I have found, but the town at the epicenter had lots of damage as did many houses in my city.
This quake was caused by greedy oil and gas czars, fracking our state to death. They dispose of the chemical filled water by-products from the drilling process deep underground, which has caused Oklahoma to have more quakes than California. A few years ago, we had two quakes. The last two years, in the thousands. The oil companies won't (with help from politicians and lobbyists) divulge what is in the noxious chemical mix, but groundwater and aquifers are being poisoned. I could go on, but won't. They did shut down some of the disposal wells, but that was after the fact.
Insurers will sell us quake insurance, not covered on homeowners policies, but the deductibles are 20% of the cost of the house. Can you imagine? I believe that this is just one of the reasons our country is facing such a political mess. The masses have had enough.
26 comments:
Years ago I was in a real earth quake, here in NE Ohio. We do have them occasionally, along fault line. I was at work, on the phone, when we had a 5.8. I compared it to having a freight train in the room. Now, about once a year, we catch the edge of a quake coming up from Lodi, from the fracking. It's like mines in WV. When someone finally goes to trial, it will be too late. When the New Madrid fault gives, I think we'll be down the sinkhole together.
Jeepers, Donna, I hadn't realized that you lived in an area that was affected by the recent earthquake. I have read about the fracking contribution to the quake potential, and it is also interesting in a scary way, to read Joanne's comment.
Your description of the sound and the motion of the pond water really brought the alarming minute home.
Now I want to do some reading about the New Madrid fault.
On a much, much lighter note, I love those little birdies flying in the "north east" corner of your page.
Hoping that both Joanne's and your area will somehow avoid future shake ups. xo
Yes, I agree. With all the building and population now, lord help us when MO goes. Here it's like the tobacco industry telling us there is no proof smoking is bad. I'll be in line once they get a lawsuit going against the companies. I can't imagine a larger quake. That would be terrifying.
You're so sweet. No one is in our corner about the fracking and waste disposal. Insurers cover tornado disasters, but not quake damage since it is man-made and not natural, yet they say there is no proof fracking is causing all the quakes. The national geological whoever, is finally stepping up and saying yes, it is the cause. With all the building and population growth, the New Madrid fault is gong to cause terrible damage across the midwest. Nothing is built to withstand that kind of quake. I had this birdie template long ago and went back to it. I'm going to leave it be after my last experimentation.
I find it all rather terrifying Donna, particularly as fracking has just begun over here too in spite of a lot of opposition to it.
Oh, I didn't know that Pat. They put those disposal wells right next to homes and neighborhoods. Lets hope your government isn't as corrupt as ours is. The saying "you can't save the world, but do what you can" is relevant in your situation. Write to your lawmakers and ask what they are going to do with all the waste and more importantly, perhaps your environmental agency can find out exactly what is in the poisonous slurry they are pumping back into the earth.
Can you believe I had never heard the word fracking..I looked up at Jacques and I knew he would know..of course he did..and of course it can cause earthquakes..it creates upheavel in the soils..they go deep..poor you!
Boone Pickens, an oil and gas billionaire from OK, started to invest in solar and wind turbines just as the fracking technology took off. He quickly pulled out of wind and sun and went full speed into the fracking. I'm sure they are doing it in Canada too. Pat, in the Yorkshire Dales in England, says they are doing it there. The worst part is the insurance that charges a 20% deductible and then says, well no we won't pay because it was man-made not a natural disaster. The industry says it isn't proven that the disposal is causing earthquakes. You just can't win with the big corporations.
I am so sorry, and glad you escaped relatively lightly.
Some of our guvermints are pushing for fracking. Profit is all. (In their eyes, NOT mine.)
I am really opposed to fracking and think it is doing nothing but harm to our planet. So very sorry to learn you are in an area affected by it. Glad to hear that you escaped without any serious damage.
I can't understand why someone didn't get the solar and wind and wave energies going back in the seventies when they started pushing it. One big worldwide conspiracy theory I guess.
Me too. We don't have quake insurance.
I got so used earthquakes when I lived In Laguna Beach, California that I could tell when they would come. Not the day or hour but within a few days and of course not every one. But there are signs.
But with fracking there is not a "tell" and it awful. What they are doing for "the almighty dollar" is so wrong and that is what so many have become money grabbing a**holes.
I am so happy to read that you are all fine and you house is OK also.
The only way to stop this is to move the congressman, governor, or state officials to the ares that are being fracked. And they must live there not in the nice homes on golf courses.
Stuff like this makes me so mad. I see it everyday here where I live in a border city and state.
My government does not care. Money and vote !
cheers, parsnip
Opps, forgot to say how much I love your new header photo !
It is sad when the almighty dollar rules instead of our elected officials whom we put our trust in. I have read that somewhere they put a stop to fracking in their state (perhaps Connecticut?) And, then the insurance companies say they won't pay since it is man-made while the oil and gas says no their not and on and on it goes. The Oogalala Aquifer provides water for several states and I wonder what's in it now. There are hundreds of disposal wells and just today there have been six quakes. Thank you about the header.
we're destroying this earth for greed. money is like a mental illness. the more you have the more you want and fuck all else. what I don't understand is why the oil barons and companies didn't jump on solar and other renewables once it became apparent that oil was at it's end game. but no, instead they invented fracking to get that last little bit.
I agree Ellen. I think that is why Americans have become so jaded. We have lost our rights across the board to big money and the power that comes with it. I'm just glad there isn't a nuclear power plant in my backyard.
Holy cow! Who on earth could be on the side of frickin fracking! Excuse my french. I'm so glad it wasn't worse for you. But anyway, I do appreciate you coming by my place and admiring my linens. I do try to buy only things in good condition. It's my main hobby. Happy Fall!
Holy cow! Who on earth could be on the side of frickin fracking! Excuse my french. I'm so glad it wasn't worse for you. But anyway, I do appreciate you coming by my place and admiring my linens. I do try to buy only things in good condition. It's my main hobby. Happy Fall!
We love all of the same things Jacqueline. Your photos are always gorgeous. The worst part is that our state depends on the oil and gas industry and has been in dire straights since the collapse of oil and gas prices. I say we have lots of wind and sun. Why haven't they done more with that?
How disappointing it is to read that fracking has made your area a quake zone. :(
It really is horrible Bea especially since there are no codes for building quake proof buildings and houses. This one was the largest one ever recorded here. They talk about being worried that ancient faults might re-awaken with all these quakes. There are more than 700 disposal wells in OK, some right in the middle of expensive neighborhoods. It is really unbelievable.
A lake. . .like jello. I've never experienced anything like it. How scary. And sad in this case.
I kind of thought it might be splashing out. It is eerie since we aren't used to the bigger ones in OK. The weather radar showed a large cover of ground clutter over most of eastern OK and it was all the birds and waterfowl taking flight when the quake happened.
How disturbing this event sounds, and infuriating also if it has been caused by fracking. Pressure is on us in Britain to accept fracking and along with many other people I am totally opposed to the idea. In spite of objections I think it will go ahead - money talks!
I hope they don't get their claws in Britain. The old buildings aren't made for quakes. Some that collapsed here were just 100 years old. Since this post I read that OK is taking in 100's of millions of gallons of other states' poison water waste to dispose of. It all has to go somewhere, but this is a case of not in my backyard. Write to your lawmakers and tell them to read reports of quakes caused by fracking and the poison by-products.
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