0 Pawnee Nation declares state of emergency after earthquake

PAWNEE, Okla. - Quick facts:

A 5.6 magnitude shook Green Country Saturday.

One man was injured.

Buildings suffered damage.

Related Headlines VIDEO: Pawnee earthquake damages pharmacy

The Pawnee Nation has declared a state of emergency after an earthquake shook the area Saturday.

Six of the nation's buildings were damaged, and two of those buildings suffered significant damage.

RELATED: Gov. Fallin declares state of emergency in Pawnee County following earthquake

Officials with the Pawnee County Emergency Management say buildings there suffered significant damage as the result of the earthquake.

The 5.6 magnitude quake was centered near Pawnee.

SEE MORE: Massive earthquake shakes Green Country

It is tied with a 2011 earthquake for the strongest in Oklahoma history. Multiple aftershocks followed.

At least one man was injured.

Joe Alley said he was trying to protect his child when bricks fell and hit his head.

SEE MORE: How to stay safe during an earthquake

He was later released from the hospital.

Buildings near Sixth and Harrison suffered significant damage.

Though emergency officials at first said a building collapsed, they later said the damage did not result in a full collapse.

Three buildings were deemed unsafe.

Officials said other structural damage was reported.

SEE MORE: Pictures of earthquake damage

Officials said part of main street in Pawnee was blocked off due to damage.

The Northeast Junior Rodeo Association of Oklahoma confirmed the rodeo there is canceled.

Governor Mary Fallin said emergency management is going to assist in Pawnee after the earthquake.

ODOT confirmed that bridges and roads only received very minor damage.

SEE MORE: FOX23 Earthquakes Page

Fallin said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake.

Local businesses in Pawnee suffered damages as well.

White's Foodliner estimates the store lost thousands of dollars in damages.

A local liquor store also reported hundreds in damages.

"When a disaster like this happens on a holiday weekend, there's a sense that we're disconnected, that's not true. We're still connected, and I want everyone to be able to see it here." Senator James Lankford said.

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Five things to know on FOX23:

© 2019 Cox Media Group. </s> (CNN) The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is telling operators to shut down 35 disposal wells that may have played a role in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook at least six states Saturday, Gov. Mary Fallin said.

The disposal wells, which are linked to fracking and other industries that need to dispose of toxic waste water by injecting it deep into the earth, have recently drawn concern that they may actually induce earthquakes.

"This is a mandatory directive," Fallin said.

The commission, which regulates fuel, oil, gas, public utilities and transportation industries, is investigating to determine the epicenter of the quake that hit Pawnee, said commission spokesman Matt Skinner.

The Environmental Protection Agency is also investigating, Fallin said.

Skinner says earthquakes in Oklahoma are generally not directly caused by fracking, but rather by pressure from the disposal wells, which are used by the industry to get rid of the toxic waste water that comes out of the earth along with oil and gas.

"The disposal wells dispose into the state's deepest formation, the Arbuckle formation, which is right above what we call the basement," Skinner said. The basement is above where the critical faults lie that shift and make earthquakes."

Those disposal wells within five miles of the 10-mile section of the fault in question are to be shut down within seven days, and all the other wells must be shut down within 10 days, Fallin said.

Controversial disposal method

Oil and gas drillers and other industries use the disposal wells to inject toxic waste water deep into the earth, which raises questions about possible pollution of the water supply. The wells are used to dispose of fracking waste.

Saturday's earthquake, which some people described as the most powerful in memory, rendered six buildings in Pawnee Nation uninhabitable, Fallin said. Rural Pawnee County and the city of Pawnee had at least six buildings damaged, with one homeowner suffering minor injuries, Fallin said.

The earthquake damaged at least one historic building in Pawnee, city officials told CNN.

"It's an old historical building about 100 years old. It's still standing but some of the outer layers of sandstone fell. It could be cosmetic damage. We don't know yet," said Pawnee Mayor Brad Sewell.

Fallin issued a declaration of emergency for Pawnee County to start the process of "helping individuals, families and businesses impacted by the earthquakes" and help them request any necessary assistance.

The earthquake was also felt in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska and Iowa, according to the US Geological Survey.

"A quake this size would shake for about 15 seconds and it was a shallow quake, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep," said Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist.

With earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, "the ground is softer, so the seismic waves have a much farther travel distance then an earthquake in California or Nevada," said another USGS geophysicist, Robert Sanders.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake near Pawnee. — Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) September 3, 2016

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is checking bridges for damage and structural engineers are assessing building safety, according to Fallin. The governor also said no "concerning structural problems" in the state's highways and bridges have been found.

There have been a total of 11 earthquakes in the same area Saturday, the USGS said. The largest was at 7:02 a.m. (8:02 a.m. ET), with the preliminary 5.6 magnitude. The other quake magnitudes ranged from 2.7 to 3.6.

Despite minimal damage, the quake set off anxious speculation on social media.

Wow! Felt the earth move in Rogers, Arkansas. Had to Google to find out what was going on. #Earthquake — CarolLangston (@CarolLangston) September 3, 2016

We survived #Earthquake 2k16. Hashtag KCforever. We will rebuild. We will press on. pic.twitter.com/teTlwixZEn — Mike Brooks (@MikeBrooks) September 3, 2016

This morning wake up call brought to by Oklahoma's oil and natural gas industry. — Clifton Adcock (@cliftonhowze) September 3, 2016

Some tweeters saw humor in the quake, with no serious casualties.

That wasn't an earthquake that hit Oklahoma this morning. That was Sooner fans champ hopes crashing to Earth on the 1st Saturday of season. — Eric (@illstr8r) September 3, 2016

"Oooooooooklahoma, where the fault lines rumble like a train..." Yeah, NO. I like our theme song the way it is. #earthquake — Ree Drummond (@thepioneerwoman) September 3, 2016

But a March report released by the USGS showed that people in parts of Texas and Oklahoma now face similar ground-shaking risks from human-induced activity, such as fluid injection or extraction, as residents face from natural earthquakes in California.

The agency outlined the risk of these so-called "induced" earthquakes, noting that Oklahoma City and the surrounding region face a 5-12% chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016.

Seismic activity is also on the rise in certain energy-intensive states after a relatively stable period of about 30 years, according to the USGS report. Earthquake rates have "recently increased markedly" in multiple areas of the Central and Eastern United States, especially since 2010, the report said. Its 2014 model of seismic risks did not consider man-made quakes.

The agency said several damaging quakes have occurred recently near injection wells. For instance, a magnitude 5.6-earthquake caused minor injuries and damage to homes in 2011 near Prague, Oklahoma. Other tremors in these fracking regions include a 5.3-magnitude quake near Trinidad, Colorado, in 2011 and a 4.8-magnitude quake near Timpson, Texas, in 2012.

As to whether the injection wells are what causes the earthquakes, and this quake in particular, Skinner would only say, "There's all kinds of theories as to why it puts pressure on the basement faults, but somehow that is happening and we have taken many actions based on that." </s> Oklahoma officials on Saturday ordered oil and gas operators to shut down three dozen wastewater disposal wells following a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that tied a record as the strongest in state history.

The quake, centered near Pawnee, rattled the state just after 8 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, tying a record set in 2011 for the strongest such tremor in Oklahoma history, according to the National Weather Service.

Local officials reported moderate to severe damage and at least one nonlife-threatening injury.

“We are finding a lot of rural houses north, northwest of Pawnee that are seeing extensive damage,” Sheriff Mike Waters of Pawnee County said on Saturday.

Pawnee County Emergency Management posted photos on Facebook just before noon of a pile of rubble, noting that three buildings had moderate damage, while several others had minor damage. </s> Health officials in Rockland County, New York have declared a state of emergency amid an ongoing measles outbreak. </s> ATLANTA – The governor of Georgia has declared a state of emergency in seven counties that have suffered deaths, injuries and severe damage from weekend storms.

Gov. Nathan Deal’s office said Sunday the emergency declaration includes Brooks, Cook and Berrien counties — where 11 people have been confirmed dead in south central Georgia near the Florida state line.

Also included were Atkinson, Colquitt, Lowndes and Thomas counties.

Deal said in a statement that state agencies are “making all resources available” to affected counties and “our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm’s impact.” </s> ATLANTA (AP) – The governor of Georgia has declared a state of emergency in seven counties that have suffered deaths, injuries and severe damage from weekend storms.

Gov. Nathan Deal’s office said Sunday the emergency declaration includes Brooks, Cook and Berrien counties – where 11 people have been confirmed dead in south central Georgia near the Florida state line.

Also included were Atkinson, Colquitt, Lowndes and Thomas counties.

Deal said in a statement that state agencies are “making all resources available” to affected counties and “our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm’s impact.”

Cook County Coroner Tim Purvis said an apparent tornado “leveled” numerous homes before dawn Sunday in a mobile home park near Adel, killing seven people. He said emergency responders were still searching for survivors hours later </s> A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma's key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Nebraska to North Texas on Saturday and likely will focus fresh new attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.

The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7.02am Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, which is a key energy-producing region.

That matches a November 2011 quake that hit the city of Prague, which is about 70 miles south of Pawnee.

Geologists say damage is not likely in earthquakes below magnitude 4.0, however, some buildings suffered severe structural damage from the quake in Pawnee.

Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter, and there were no injuries, either.

'We've got buildings cracked,' Randell said. 'Most of it's brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.'

Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm.

'Then it just ... Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,' said Wills, who lives about 2½ miles outside of town.

'It rocked my house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.'

According to FOX 23, officials with the Pawnee County Emergency Management are checking bridges and structures in the area.

Gov. Mary Fallin said emergency management is going to assist in Pawnee after the earthquake.

Fallin said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake.

White's Foodliner store in Pawnee is closed for the day after the quake shook items off of the store shelves and onto the floor.

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Norman, Oklahoma, all reported feeling the earthquake.

Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.

Saturday's quake was centered about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma, which has a population of about 2,200.

Earlier this week, the same spot, which is about 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, saw a magnitude 3.2 temblor.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production.

State regulators have asked producers to reduce wastewater disposal volumes in earthquake-prone regions of the state.

According to a recent report released by the USGS, Oklahoma faces similar ground-shaking risks from human-induced activity, including fluid injection or extraction, which is creating a risk similar to that of what people in California face from natural earthquakes in that state.

Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation's most shake-prone, and one Oklahoma region has a 1 in 8 chance of a damaging quake in 2016, with other parts closer to 1 in 20.

The USGS outlined the risk of the 'induced' earthquakes, and noted that Oklahoma City and the region surrounding face a five to 12 per cent chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016.

A cluster of quakes in northwestern Oklahoma this year included a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, and several 4.7 quakes were felt last fall before regulators stepped in to limit disposal activity.

Oklahoma saw a spike in earthquakes in 2009.

An estimated 890 quakes happened in the state last year, as at least 30 of them measured 4.0 or greater magnitude, according to the USGS.

Sean Weide in Omaha, Nebraska, told The Associated Press that he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy.

Weide said he and one of his daughters 'heard the building start creaking' and said it 'was surreal.' </s> Supplies, including food and building materials, will be blocked from entering the main camp following Governor Jack Dalrymple's signing of an "emergency evacuation" order on Monday, Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman from the Morton County Sheriff's Department, said.

Activists have spent months protesting plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying the project poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites. </s> Florida's Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for all 67 counties ahead of Subtropical Storm Alberto.

A briefing was held this morning at the state emergency operations centre in Tallahassee.

Authorities urged residents to take the storm seriously.

The Governor said the move was intended to "keep families safe and prepare for the torrential rain and severe flooding this storm will bring".

Escambia County declared a local state of emergency yesterday "in an abundance of caution".
Governor Mary Fallin declares a state of emergency for Pawnee County.