Southern Oklahoma has long been recognized as the home to a series of very large and complex intraplate structures that are exposed in the Wichita and Arbuckle Mountains. When? The New Madrid fault system was responsible for the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes, an intense intraplate earthquake series that began with an initial earthquake of moment magnitude 7.5–7.9 on December 16, 1811, and was followed by a moment magnitude 7.4 aftershock on the same day.They remain the most powerful earthquakes to hit the contiguous United States east of the Rocky … Intraplate earthquakes also present significant seismic hazards, especially because they can affect densely populated regions with little preparation for seismic shaking. [61], Judging earthquake hazards in the central and eastern United States is made hard by the scarcity of geological evidence of seismicity, the long timespans between earthquakes and the shortness of the historical record thereof. [42][12] The slip rate has been estimated to be 0.02 millimeters per year (0.00079 in/year), which is typical for intraplate faults. Seismic Risk of the Meers Fault, SW Oklahoma: A Hoary Giant or Great Imposter? The New Madrid Seismic Zone, sometimes called the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes in the southern and midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri. What were the effects? [31], The Meers fault is among the most prominent tectonic structures in the region. Continuing high rates of small magnitude earthquakes, the great historical earthquakes of 1811-1812 and large paleoseismic earthquakes define the NMSZ as one of the major intraplate seismic zones of the world [Johnston & Schweig, 1996]. [40] During the history of the fault considerable uplift took place on its southern side[31] while the recent movement has generated an opposite movement. Locations north of the NMSZ, such as the closely … [35] Recent research has suggested that the whole fault may be of Quaternary age with little activity during the Pennsylvanian. Meers Fault is a fault in Oklahoma that extends from Kiowa County to Comanche County. [58] Earthquakes in Oklahoma have been observed in the areas of the southern Oklahoma aulacogen and of the Amarillo-Wichita uplift; in southwestern Oklahoma they are rare and of moderate intensity. Andrew Cullen / Warwick Energy & University of Oklahoma STATEMENT of the PROBLEM: The southern edge of the Anadarko basin in SW Oklahoma is defined by a regional fault system that records Pennsylvanian-aged inversion of a failed Cambrian intra-continental rift; an aulacogen formed during the break-up of … The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, or AFAD, said Thursday there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the quake that... ANKARA, Turkey (AP) â An earthquake with a 4.7 magnitude shook Malatya province in eastern Turkey on Friday, sending people pouring out into the streets in fear. [51] In general, the movement direction of the Meers fault is contentious. 1A inset) is defined by alignments of earthquake epicenters. [59] The activity of the Meers fault and other seismicity has been related to a continent-spanning fault zone[60] and there might be a relation to the Brevard Zone in Atlanta as well. In contrast, the Semidi segment exhibits far sparser seismicity both at greater depths and within the plate boundary, even though great earthquakes historically occur here3 (Fig.1). There were no immediate reports of damage. 2000 years of migrating earthquakes in North China: how earthquakes in midcontinents differ from those at plate boundaries. 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