Oklahoma rattled by shallow 5.1 magnitude earthquake

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook an area near Oklahoma City late Friday night, followed by smaller quakes during the next several hours, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake struck at 11:24 p.m. and was centered 8 kilometers (5 miles) northwest of Prague, Oklahoma, about 57 miles (92 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City, the agency said.

Residents across the state from Lawton to Enid to Tulsa to Ponca City reported feeling the shaking to the U.S.G.S.

The initial earthquake was followed by at least eight smaller temblors through Saturday morning, ranging in strength from magnitude 2.5 to 3.4, according to the geological survey.

State and local emergency officials did not immediately return phone calls for comment early Saturday, but no major injuries or damage were initially reported.

The earthquake was shallow — just 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) deep, according to the USGS — and temblors that hit close to the surface can make the shaking more intense.

At least six earthquakes, including two greater than magnitude 4.0, were recorded near another Oklahoma City suburb in January. In April, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake was among a series of six that struck the central Oklahoma town of Carney, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City.

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck Prague in 2011, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of the state’s strongest recorded earthquake site in Pawnee, which registered a magnitude 5.8 in 2016.