A preliminary magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit east of Oklahoma City on Friday night and was followed by at least two smaller temblors, according to the US Geological Survey. The bigger earthquake was recorded at 11:24 p.m. local time about 5 miles northwest of Prague, Oklahoma, and about 42 miles from Oklahoma City, the geological survey said. The shaking from that earthquake was felt across a large swath of the state, including in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, according to preliminary reports shared by USGS. Earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains are usually felt over a much larger area than earthquakes of similar magnitude in the western US, according to the geological survey. “East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area more than ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast,” the geological survey wrote on its website.

Source: CNN February 03, 2024 20:40 UTC