Earthquakes Rattle Residents

On Sunday evening around 7:40 p.m., a 3.7 magnitude earthquake startled quite a few Stephens County residents. Fran Wilson who lives a mile north of the Lawton-Duncan Y, south of Marlow, was one of those who felt the earthquake.

"Our windows and fireplace glass was rattling. We were in our recliners and our footrest started shaking. I put my feet on the floor and felt the floor roll," she shared on The Review's Facebook page. Wilson said she's a California transplant and has been in a couple of earthquakes. She said she's seen the damage one can do and said a 3.7 is not bad.

More than 30 earthquakes have happened in a clustered area west, northwest of Velma along Potts Road, during September. The Sunday 3.7 magnitude was the largest recorded one according to the USGS website.

Ina Black also lives about a mile north of the Y. She said she heard it more than felt it. "It sounded like an explosion and a crackling noise. It is half a mile from the railroad tracks and I thought maybe another train derailed." (In early June, a train derailed as it passed through Marlow).

Another individual who lives near Lake Humphrey described it as intense and said his ceiling fans were shaking. A few people said they thought someone ran into the side of their house.

The largest recorded earthquake to shake up Oklahoma was a 5.8 magnitude on Sept. 3, 2016. On Nov. 5, 2011, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake that was centered near Prague, damaged homes and the Benedictine Hall at St. Gregory's University in Shawnee.