© twitter.com5.8 earthquake strikes Oklahoma, felt in Kansas
"It scared me this time," said Errica Weaver. The morning jolt felt across the region didn't skip Weaver's home. "I ran down the hallway and woke my husband up and I was like 'we're having another earthquake'," said Weaver. [T]he earthquake shook pictures off her wall, and caused drawers to slide out of her bedroom dresser. We took Weaver through the FEMA Earthquake Home Hazard Hunt, a guide to eliminate potential dangers in your home in the event of an earthquake.
FEMA recommends you securely fasten or relocate heavy pictures over beds and furniture. We checked Weaver's home and all wall hangings are in safe places. Another suggestion is to secure cabinets to wall studs, and use latches to keep cabinet doors from flying open during an earthquake. Weaver says that's something she'll have to fix in her own home.
FEMA also recommends strapping down TVs and other expensive or hazardous electronics. FEMA emphasizes making sure all heavy objects are secured inside your home. There are also steps you can take outside the home, such as making sure your house is anchored to its foundation.
Comment: The earthquake ties for Oklahoma's strongest earthquake on record, the first coming in November 2011. No major damage was immediately reported. 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.
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. An estimated 10 million people felt the earthquake across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, and Alabama.