5.6 quake hits central Okla. after earlier shakers

OKLAHOMA CITY?? A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook central Oklahoma late Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

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Emergency management officials in Lincoln County were reporting significant damage, NBC station KJRH of Tulsa reported.

Chimneys collapsed through roofs of homes, KJRH reported. Damage to the Prague library included collapsed air conditioning ducts and a collapsed wall.

Several roadways have buckled, including Highway 62 and other county roads, KJRH said.

There has been no word on any injuries reported.

If the magnitude is confirmed, it would be the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the state, The Weather Channel said.

The quake was shallow at 3.1 miles deep and occurred at 10:53 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the USGS said. It was centered about four miles east of the city of Sparks in Lincoln County, or about 45 miles east of Oklahoma City.

See a USGS map showing where quake struck

A USGS spokesman told NBC News that callers from Kansas, Arizona, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma were reporting that they had felt the quake.

People posted on Twitter that they felt the earthquake as far away as Kansas City, St. Louis, and Wylie, Texas.

?The picture by the TV fell off the wall and we jumped up because we thought somebody had hit the house,? Noeh Morales of Oklahoma City told NewsOK.com.

The quake struck as ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was on the air with Chris Fowler to report Oklahoma State's defeat of Kansas State in Stillwater. Herbstreit widened his eyes in surprise as he was being questioned by Fowler, and then told him about the quake and asked him to repeat his question.

"I literally thought the stadium was rocking lijke people were stepping down off of this platform I'm on, but we had a little aftershock..." Herbstreit said.

The quake came after at least three earthquakes shook much of the same area early Saturday.

A 4.7 magnitude quake struck at 2:12 a.m. (3:12 a.m. ET), with an epicenter about six miles north of Prague in southern Lincoln County, the USGS reported on its website. That is about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City.

The USGS said a 3.4 magnitude quake was also recorded at 2:27 a.m. and a 2.7 magnitude quake at 2:44 a.m.

People felt rumbling as far away as Oklahoma City, Tulsa and outside of the state in Wichita, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., NewsOK reported.

"We have a solid house on a slab, and it felt like it was coming apart," Joe Bill Moad, who lives west of Oklahoma City in Yukon, told the newspaper.

Lincoln County sheriff officials said there have been no reports of injuries but several people reported items falling off walls.

Oklahoma City police officials said they have received several 911 calls, but have no reports of injuries or damage.

The largest previously recorded earthquake to strike Oklahoma was a 5.5 magnitude temblor centered in El Reno on April 9, 1952, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

This article includes reporting from msnbc.com staff, NBC News and The Associated Press.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45173167/ns/us_news-life/

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