April 07, 2018 - 8:17 AM
COVINNGTON, Okla. - A magnitude 4.6 earthquake shook Oklahoma on Saturday and was also felt in neighbouring Kansas and Missouri, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It was one of four earthquakes recorded in northwest Oklahoma on Saturday morning. Garfield County Emergency Management Director Mike Honigsberg said there are no immediate reports of injury or serious damage following the quakes.
The largest temblor was at 7:16 a.m. a few miles outside Covington, a town of about 500 people. Reports on the USGS website show it was felt as far away as Kansas City, Missouri, some 300 miles (480 kilometres) northeast of Covington. People in Joplin, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas, also reported feeling it.
Saturday's quakes were in the same area where four others struck Friday, including one of magnitude 3.7.
The threshold for damage usually starts at 4.0. The strongest earthquake on record in Oklahoma was a magnitude 5.8 recorded near Pawnee in September 2016.
Many of the thousands of earthquakes in Oklahoma in recent years have been linked to the underground injection of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. State regulators have directed several producers to close or reduce volumes in some wells.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018