Orphaned chimpanzee finds home in Oklahoma City Zoo

Ruben's mother, Rukiya, died of a heart condition shortly after Ruben's birth at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla. Attempts to integrate Ruben into other troops failed before he was brought to Oklahoma City in July.

By Matt Patterson | Published: September 17, 2012   

 

Ruben the chimpanzee's first months in this world have been anything but easy.
His mother, Rukiya, died of a heart condition shortly after his birth at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla. His biological father was deemed too intense for him. And another female chimp at Busch Gardens in Florida also was too much for the pint-size primate.
“Our two females liked him but none of them picked him up, neither of them were that interested,” Lowry Park curator Lee Ann Rottman said. “His father wanted to play all the time and Ruben just wasn't ready for that.”
Rottman said one of the saddest aspects of the early part of Ruben's life was that his mother had already been a surrogate to another baby chimp.
“We had very high hopes for her as a mom,” Rottman said.
But the now 8-month-old chimp looks to have found a home at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Ruben arrived along with three handlers in July on a private jet donated by a supporter of the Lowry Park Zoo.
Ruben has found a surrogate mother in Kito, who has never had any offspring of her own. Ruben was introduced to Kito and Zoe and the rest of their troop after three days of monitoring by zoo staff.
Kito was chosen for the role as surrogate mom because of her success playing the role of surrogate to Siri, another chimpanzee at the zoo. Siri was brought to the Oklahoma City Zoo after her mother's breast milk was found to be nutritionally deficient and could not meet the growing chimp's needs.
“We chose Kito because she has the patience of a saint,” Oklahoma City Zoo curator Laura Bottaro said. “We knew this from how she handled Siri.”
Kito and Ruben were a natural fit, Bottaro said. But Ruben had to be cared for around the clock after his arrival. Baby chimps need to be held at all times, Bottaro said. Staffers at the zoo wore special shirts designed to mimic the hair of chimpanzees.
“The transition from humans can be uncomfortable for the infant because they're not sure they fit in,” Bottaro said. “Once they fit in, they're in.”
No guarantee
Curator Robin Newby said the hierarchies of chimpanzee troops can be complex. And even though Kito had been a successful surrogate before, there was no guarantee it would work again.
“It is very strict and complex,” Newby said. “They feel the need to keep individuals in check at all times. There's a lot of demonstrations either vocally or physically to accomplish that.”

Kito showed off her experience rearing infants almost immediately. When it was bedtime, her technique to keep Ruben near her was the same she had used for Siri. “Her strategy is to gather all of the nice bedding material each night, things like hay and wood wool, which is shredded wood,” Bottaro said. “She puts that stuff around her. She never forced him. She waited for him to come to her. She was saying to him, ‘Unless you want to sleep on a hard floor, you have to be in my vicinity.'”
With the addition of Ruben, the zoo now has nine chimpanzees in two troops. Ruben even bonded quickly with Mwami, the dominant male in his troop. Mwami is protective of Ruben. They're not quite father and son, but more like nephew and fun uncle. Mwami often pats Ruben's head and incites him into play by doing a dance in front of him.
“The one concern I had is this infant was a male and the other two we've had to pair with surrogates were females,” Bottaro said.
“Sometimes in the wild, if the dominant male is not the biological father, that can be a problem. But that didn't happen.”
A ‘true boy'
Even as Ruben clings to the security of adults, he does venture off on his own. Rottman said at Lowry Park, Ruben was rambunctious and a “true boy” who loved to eat.
He has continued on that path in Oklahoma City.
“For a youngster at his age he's very independent,” Newby said. “He'll go back to his surrogate mom for a little check-in and then he's off playing with the dominant male.”
Ruben will remain out of public view until he is fully integrated with all of the zoo's chimps. But that day is coming soon, Bottaro said. And when it does it will be the final step in his journey that took him from Florida to central Oklahoma. It also highlights the cooperation between zoos. It was painful for Rottman to give up Ruben, but she knew it was for the best.
“The staff here truly loved him,” Rottman said. “But we knew this was the right decision and we had so much faith in the staff at Oklahoma City because they've done this before. It is a truly wonderful situation he's in now and we couldn't be more pleased and thankful for that.”

NEWS - SMALL EARTHQUAKE RECORDED IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY

Small earthquake recorded in Oklahoma County

The 2.3 magnitude quake was centered about 3 miles northeast of Luther in Oklahoma County.

 

From Staff Reports | Published: April 9, 2012    9

LUTHER — A small earthquake was recorded shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday in central Oklahoma, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The 2.3 magnitude quake was centered about 3 miles northeast of Luther in Oklahoma County, and 6 miles west of Wellston in Lincoln County..
It was about 2.5 miles below the surface, the survey reported.

NEWS - SMALL EARTHQUAKE REPORTED NEAR PITTSBURG OKLAHOMA

Small earthquake reported near Pittsburg, Oklahoma

A small earthquake has been reported in eastern Oklahoma. No damages or injuries reported Tuesday

 

FROM STAFF REPORTS | Published: April 3, 2012    

PITTSBURG – A small earthquake has been reported in southern Pittsburg County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The 4.0 magnitude quake was reported at 1:33 a.m. Tuesday 2 miles southeast of Pittsburg located south of McAlester.
No injuries or damages were reported.
The quake was felt as far away as the Tulsa area.

NEWS - SMALL EARTHQUAKE NEAR WELLSTON IN CENTERAL OKLAHOMA

Small earthquake near Wellston in central Oklahoma

 

 

Published: February 29, 2012

WELLSTON (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded a small earthquake near Wellston in central Oklahoma.
No injuries or damage are reported.
The U.S.G.S. reports the magnitude 3.0 quake occurred about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday and was centered about three miles southwest of Wellston — near the Lincoln-Oklahoma County line. The area is about 30 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
A dispatcher with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office says the office received no calls from the public about the earthquake.
Geologists say earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest felt by humans.

NEWS - OKLAHOMA SENATE PASSES PERSONHOOD ACT. SAYING LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION

Oklahoma Senate passes Personhood Act, saying life begins at conception

After two hours of debate, the state Senate voted 34-8 for a bill that states life begins at the moment of conception.

 

BY MEGAN ROLLAND 

Published: February 16, 2012

The first bill of the session passed by the Oklahoma Senate was an anti-abortion statement that life begins at the moment of conception, approved by senators Wednesday after two hours of debate.
The practical effect of the bill is open to question. Its author, Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, said it's merely a statement that Oklahoma is “pro-life.” He labeled as fear mongering contentions by opponents that it could lead to restrictions on abortions, birth control, in vitro fertilization and stem cell research.
The Personhood Act, Senate Bill 1433, received international attention in the wake of a proposed amendment from Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Holdenville. The amendment said it was an act against unborn children for men to waste sperm.
“A lot of people thought that I was being facetious with my amendment in committee, and it was humorous and it has gotten international response,” Johnson said to her fellow senators.
“But I was serious as a heart attack. It wasn't until I used the biological and scientific references to those functions that somebody heard it. Maybe nobody in this chamber gets it but somebody heard that all we're asking for is for this conversation to include both individuals that are necessary to bring life about.”
Johnson, whose amendment was tabled, said she is sick of legislation that pries into the private lives of women with no mention of the men who are co-actors in the process of conception.
The bill passed 34-8 with several Democrats voting in favor.

Crain defended the bill he authored as a necessary step toward protecting Oklahoma's most vulnerable people, unborn children.
“The unborn have no voice of their own. We must be the voice of the unborn,” Crain said. “It will take us to the very limit of what the United States Supreme Court has deemed to be constitutional.”
He said the bill was a lobbyist request from the group Oklahomans for Life, but he would not name people who had sought the bill.
Oklahoma already has some of the strictest regulations on the books when it comes to abortions. Only three clinics in the state perform abortions, and the abortion rate in Oklahoma is lower than the national average, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
In 2008, about 10 out of every 1,000 women had an abortion in Oklahoma, lower than the national average of almost 20 abortions per 1,000 women.
“What would I do in the situation where one of my daughters found themselves with an unwanted pregnancy?” Crain said. “I would hope that my children would say, ‘Dad, I choose life. ... I would like to raise this child or I can't raise this child but I would like to bring this child into the world and then that child could be adopted.'”
Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, made a plea for the men of the Senate not to take that choice away from women.
“We say we're pro-life out here, but we don't do anything to limit pregnancies,” Wilson said. “We could do medically accurate sex education, but we choose not to do that. We could make birth control more available, but we choose not to do that.”
Related measuresThe bill, now headed to the House, is one of several the Legislature will consider that deals with abortion. SB 1274 requires that women listen to the heartbeat of a fetus before having an abortion.
House Joint Resolution 1067 would make the personhood issue a vote of the people.

NEWS - EATHQUAKE RECORDED NEAR PADEN, OKLAHOMA

Earthquake recorded near Paden

A 3.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded six miles from Paden on Tuesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

FROM STAFF REPORTS  

Published: February 7, 2012

PADEN — An earthquake hit near Paden on Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The 3.1 magnitude quake struck six miles from Paden about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Its epicenter was seven miles from Boley and 55 miles from Oklahoma City.
The quake was recorded about 15 minutes after a regional drill was conducted to practice earthquake safety.

NEWS - PUBLIC ART PLAYS ROLE IN TRANSFORMATION OF DOWNTOWN INTO TOURIST DRAW

Public art plays role in transformation of downtown into tourist draw

BY STEVE LACKMEYER

Published: January 31, 2012

Many words have been written about the transformation of downtown Oklahoma City from a sleepy business district that went dead after work hours to one that is a nonstop place to live, work and play.
Tourists are being drawn by the improvements made the past two decades, most notably the Bricktown Canal, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City National Memorial and the Myriad Gardens.
But if one really wants to get a good count of tourists on any given day, grab a seat near the Mickey Mantle statue in Bricktown and count how many times families stop for a photo. Similar scenes can be found at the Gates of Time at the Memorial, at the new waterfall at the entrance to the Myriad Gardens, or in front of the Womb Gallery on NW 9, where the entire building is one giant mural.
Public art can be found throughout downtown Oklahoma City, and if locals aren't noticing, visitors

are certainly enjoying the views. Art, by its very nature, can either be a hit or a flop with the public audience and certainly downtown has its share of both.But consider what a ride along the canal might be like without the tile mosaic American Indian themed mural at the north end of the waterway, or the “Inclined” sculpture by the Water Taxi booth, or the mural postcards of old downtown just north of the Reno Avenue Bridge.

NEWS - 2 SMALL EARTHQUAKES RECORDED IN OKLAHOMA

Two earthquakes recorded near Prague

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that two quakes hit near Prague about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The earthquakes were about 43 miles from Oklahoma City.

 FROM STAFF REPORTS  

Published: January 29, 2012

Two earthquakes were recorded near Prague Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 2.7 magnitude quake hit six miles from Prague about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The quake's epicenter was seven miles from Meeker and 43 miles from Oklahoma City.
About the same time, a 2.4 magnitude earthquake also was recorded five miles from Prague, eight from Meeker and 43 miles away from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - MOVIE SHOT IN OKLAHOMA CITY AREA TO SCREEN IN BRICKTOWN

Movie shot in Oklahoma City area to screen in Bricktown

FROM STAFF REPORTS   

Published: January 19, 2012

The locally filmed movie “Wolf Head” will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday at Harkins Theatres, 150 E Reno Ave. The 90-minute film was produced, cast and shot in the greater Oklahoma City area.
According to a news release, the action-comedy centers on the overly sheltered Flannigan brothers who come home to discover their mother is sick and can no longer provide. So they turn to the only person who can help them make money: their mother's new boyfriend Leonard. He gets them started on a life of street hustling to make money, but things don't go as planned.
“Wolf Head” was written, directed and produced by filmmaker Ryan “Staples” Scott, founder of Yukon-based RYIT Creative.
Lucas Ross, Ryan Bellgardt, Jack Elliot and Emoly West appear in the film.

NEWS - KEVIN DURANT FILM SEEKS EXTRAS ON OKLAHOMA CITY!

Aww, man! id do this in a heartbeat! i had a blast filming for 10 days on the set (as an extra) for the movie The Program in Columbia, SC...would be pretty awesome to be considered again for another movie to add to my portfolio of  'EXTRA' Cast Member ...:) MICHELLE

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Kevin Durant film seeks extras in Oklahoma City

FROM STAFF REPORTS   

Published: January 19, 2012

The Kevin Durant film “Thunderstruck” is seeking extras for a shoot next week in Oklahoma City.
Extras will portray passers-by and neighbors in some street scenes on Monday and Wednesday, Freihofer Casting has announced. Tuesday, the casting office will hire 500 paid extras to portray Oklahoma City Thunder fans at a home game.
The casting office is looking for ages 11-70; entire families and all ethnicities will be considered. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Extras must be available all day. Tuesday, extras will begin in the early afternoon and will shoot into the night. Applicants may email a recent photo and all contact information to the casting office at Submissions@FreihoferCasting.com. The photo must be attached to the email and the body of the email must include a name, city of residence, all phone numbers and an email address.
Additionally, the subject heading of the email should be THUNDERSTRUCK EXTRAS — (day(s) of availability). It is requested that all information is sent in one email.
Submissions must be received no later than noon Sunday.

ARTICLE -OKLAHOMA ARTISTS NICOLE MOAN CREATES FANTASTICAL WEARABLE ART

Oklahoma artist Nicole Moan creates fantastical wearable art

BY HEATHER WARLICK MOORE

Published: December 5, 2011

 Oklahoma artist Nicole Moan creates fantastical wearable art

BY HEATHER WARLICK MOORE

Published: December 5, 2011

Oklahoma City has a thriving community of artists that grows more diverse as the city carves out its new identity as a cultural center.
That diversity is partly due to artistic Oklahomans such as Nicole Moan, 33, originally from Sacramento, Calif. The artist, who has lived in Oklahoma City for the past 20 years, creates extraordinary wearable ceramic corsets, wall hangings, sculpted tile murals and anything else her creative mind dreams up. Her work graces galleries from Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles across the country to New York City and in even in Europe.
She and her husband, Jason Moan (pronounced Mo-Ann), 35, a sculptor, and their three daughters live in what looks like an average northwest Oklahoma City home.
Step inside, however, and it's clear you're in artists' quarters. Nearly every inch of the family's living room and main bathroom has been reimagined by the artsy couple. Bright, sculpted ceramic tile scenes inspired by Nicole Moan's painter father, Albert Riddle, adorn the living room floor. Riddle paints in a cubist style the likes of Pablo Picasso with a surrealist twist reminiscent of Salvador Dali.
“My first memory of actually working with art was drawing store plans. My parents used to do interior design for stores and restaurants,” Nicole Moan said. She also remembers building elaborate mud palaces for her Barbie dolls.
Moan's mother, Deborah Elders Riddle, paints primarily with oils and creates equestrian themes and realistic scenes of animals, gardens and people.
Perhaps it was her mother's sensibility for natural subjects that inspired Moan to transform her bathroom into a fantastic underwater world of handmade tiles. A ceramic mermaid's tail sculpture slides up one corner of the room; a claw-foot bathtub is painted deep swirling ocean blue rimmed in gold, and a sculpted tile relief of cubist style hangs over the tub.
Creating corsetsIt was about 10 years ago that Moan created her first corset. She needed something to wear to an art event.
“I used to make fabric corsets, but I never really liked them very much because they just looked like everybody else's corsets,” Moan recalled.
So, Nicole came up with the idea of making a wearable ceramic corset, but she wasn't sure how to do it. When her husband came home from work that day, she asked him how he felt about wearing a ceramic corset — he rolled his eyes and said something like “Oh, God.” (“Now he wears my corsets all the time,” Nicole said.)
And so the two found themselves the night before the event, lying on the floor, their torsos molded in two inches of wet ceramic material, blow-drying themselves.
She remembers thinking, “This is the wrong way to make them.”
Since then, Moan has improved her corset-making process, using her formal education in engineering. She found that dressmakers' dummies weren't very true to real women's bodies, so she crafted her own ceramic bodies of varying sizes and torso lengths on which to design.
Her corsets, more than 50 of which are for sale on her website, come in several styles and can be sized up to about a woman's 20.
Moan's styles include keyhole corsets that dip low into the cleavage; some feature a fold-over collar style; some are waist cinchers; and many of Moan's corsets are designed for men.
Moan also sculpts ceramic wall hanging corsets and other wall art. All her art is shown on her website, www.nicolemoan.com.

NEWS -SMALL EARTHQUAKE RECORDED NEAR LUTHER

Small earthquake recorded near Luther

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 2.2 magnitude quake hit near Luther about 1 a.m. Sunday.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: December 4, 2011

A small earthquake was recorded near Luther Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was a 2.2 magnitude earthquake and hit about 1 a.m. Sunday. Its epicenter was 5 miles southeast of Luther and 7 miles southwest of Wellston.
The earthquake was 23 miles from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - TWO SMALL QUAKES RECORDED IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA

Two small quakes recorded in eastern Oklahoma

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that two small earthquakes registered Sunday in eastern Oklahoma. The quakes' epicenters were near Wellston and Gerty.

 

FROM STAFF REPORTS    

Published: November 27, 2011

Two small earthquakes were recorded in eastern Oklahoma Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 3.2 magnitude quake hit about 3 miles away from Wellston shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday. It hit 4 miles from Luther and 27 miles away from Oklahoma City.
Before that quake, a 2.1 magnitude earthquake hit 2 miles southeast of Gerty about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Its epicenter was 10 miles away from Allen and 86 miles from Oklahoma City.
Three small earthquakes were reported Friday near Shawnee.
The first two quakes, which measured 3.3 and 2.7 magnitudes, were reported just after 2 p.m. about three miles north of Johnson, which is about 10 miles east of Shawnee, the Oklahoma Geological Survey said.
The third, a 3.1-magnitude earthquake, was reported about three miles northwest of Prague, survey officials reported.
The area has been the center of recent seismic activity lately including the largest recorded earthquake in the state's history, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake on Nov. 5.

ARTICLE -2011 HAS BEEN A YEAR OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN OKLAHOMA

2011 has been year of natural disasters in Oklahoma

Compiled by Bryan Painter   

Published: November 25, 2011

Even though there is more than a month left in 2011, it has been quite the year for disasters including weather-related events, earthquakes and wildfires. Following is a list of some of those compiled with the help of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, National Weather Service, Norman and state Emergency Management Department, The Oklahoman archives. Although there were certainly others, this gives an idea of the wide-range of what Oklahomans have faced in 2011.
January:The month was the 33rd coolest and 6th driest since 1895.
February:In January/February, there were 4 fatalities related to the snowstorm that began on January 31, according to the State Medical Examiner's office.
Up to 21 inches of snow fell in northeast Oklahoma and widespread reports of 6-12 inches over much of the state.
A new all-time 24-hour record of 27 inches of snow fell in Spavinaw between February 8-9. The temperature plummeted to a never before seen low of -31 degrees at the Nowata Mesonet site. Mother Nature brought a swift and steady warm up through the next seven days, culminating in a 110-degree temperature swing at Nowata in a week's time.
Destruction of a significant portion of the state's wheat crop was well underway at this time as the drought continued to intensify.
March:The month ended as the 31st warmest and 8th driest since 1895. Drought continued to intensify.
Wildfires included on March 11 there were reports 15 people were injured in fires, according to The Oklahoma State Department of Health. On March 11 more than 42 fires were reported statewide, according to reports from Oklahoma Forestry.
Preliminary damage assessments received from the American Red Cross and local emergency managers, included 30 homes destroyed in Oklahoma County alone.
April:The month brought the most tornadoes,50,in April since accurate records began in 1950.The previous record was 40 back in 1957.
Two people were killed by an EF3 tornado that struck Tushka in Atoka County on April 14.
Ponca City reported a 94 mph wind gust on April 8 to go along with more than a half dozen instances of softball size hail during the month. There was flooding in the eastern half of the state.
The drought continued to intensify.
By the evening of April 3, the state Emergency Operations Center was aware of more than 100 fires burning across the state.
On April 6, the state Emergency Operations Center was working with the Oklahoma National Guard to provide aerial fire suppression via Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters equipped with buckets. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is assisting with traffic control. Oklahoma Forestry Services is providing ground firefighting equipment.
May:Tornadoes, including an EF5 tornado, ravaged the state during May. And yes, the drought continued to intensify. The 46 twisters during May killed 11, including nine by the EF5 that traveled from near Hinton to Guthrie on May 24.
Two EF3s, two EF4s and the EF5 all struck on May 24th.
On May 23, a storm near Gotebo dropped a 6-inch diameter hailstone, a new statewide record in that category,
The drought raged on in the west.
June, July and August:This was the hottest summer in terms of statewide average for any state since records began in 1895 with a statewide average of 86.8 degrees. Early reports showed Texas with the hottest summer, but the National Climatic Data Center continued to study information. Not only did Oklahoma beat its own record for the previous hottest summer of 85.2 degrees from 1934, it destroyed it by 1.6 degrees. In fact, Oklahoma now owns five of the 10 (11 with a tie) hottest summers across the U.S. since records in 1895.
The statewide record was broken for the most triple digit days. The previous record for most days at or above 100 degrees for a single location in the state was 86, set at Hollis back in 1956. Grandfield had 101 days.
July's statewide average temperature for Oklahoma was 89.3 degrees. The previous hottest July in state history was 88.1 degrees back in 1954. The 88.1 degrees in 1954 had also been the hottest month in any state back to 1895, until this July in Oklahoma.
In this span there were numerous wildfires with 15 resulting in Fire Management Assistance Grants, according to state Emergency Management Department.
September:The drought was at its zenith and then quickly received some relief from the heat. Nearly 70 percent of the state was covered by the exceptional drought category by early September, and 85 percent was extreme/exceptional. The sun, heat and lack of precipitation had taken its toll for three very long months.
The statewide average temperature for September was 1.4 degrees below normal and the 32nd coolest since 1895. Ft. Supply reached a low of 37 degrees on Sept. 6. The month was also the 20th driest on record at 2.15 inches below normal.
October:Some drought relief came for central and northeastern Oklahoma. The Panhandle even saw a bit of snow late in the month.
November:There was a 4.7-magnitude earthquake at 2:12 a.m. Nov. 5 northwest of Prague,
Then later on Nov. 5, there was a 5.6-magnitude quake. The epicenter was northwest of Prague. The 5.6 earthquake broke the state's previous record for strongest recorded earthquake – 5.5 magnitude in El Reno in 1952, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Another earthquake, registered at 4.7 magnitude, was centered in Lincoln County on Nov. 7. The epicenter was about five miles northwest of Prague.
Welcome to November 2011, the May of Autumn. There was flooding, and some tornadoes, including an EF4 grinder on Nov. 7 that tore through the Tipton area. It was the first violent tornado, EF4/EF5 in November on officials records for tornadoes in Oklahoma, dating back to 1950.
There are now 10 tornadoes confirmed for November, bringing the annual total to date, to 114 for 2011, topping the 107 in 1957 for second place. The most was 145 in 1999.

NEWS - 3.7 EARTHQUAKE RECORDED NEAR PRAGUE OKLAHOMA

3.7 earthquake recorded near Prague

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded an earthquake that struck near Prague Thursday afternoon.

 

FROM STAFF REPORTS    

Published: November 24, 2011

A 3.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Prague Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake struck 5 miles northwest of Prague about 3:11 p.m. Thursday. Its epicenter was 7 miles from Sparks and 45 miles away from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE REPORTED NEAR MEEKER OKLAHOMA

Another earthquake reported near Meeker

MEEKER — Another earthquake has been reported near Meeker.

 

FROM STAFF REPORTS  

Published: November 10, 2011

MEEKER — Another earthquake has been reported near Meeker.
The quake's strength was recorded as 3.2 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.
It hit at 2:36 a.m. Thursday 4 miles east of Meeker. Meeker schools were closed Tuesday due to damage from another small earthquake Monday night.

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i didnt feel it.

MICHELLE

NEWS - OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR DECLARES EMERGANCY AFTER EARTHQUAKE

Oklahoma governor declares emergency after earthquake

 

Published: November 9, 2011

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has declared a state of emergency for 20 counties after earthquakes, tornadoes and severe storms battered the state in recent days.
Fallin issued the executive order on Wednesday. It allows state agencies to make emergency purchases and paves the way for seeking federal assistance if it is deemed necessary.
Since Saturday, Oklahoma has been rattled by more than a dozen earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher, including a 5.6 quake that set a new state record and caused some damage in central Oklahoma.
Parts of the state also have been hit by tornadoes, straight-line winds and heavy rains.
The counties in the declaration are: Caddo, Carter, Cleveland, Comanche, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Johnston, Kiowa, LeFlore, Lincoln, McCurtain, Murray, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Sequoyah, Tillman, and Washita.

NEWS - BEAVER-TAIL TORNADO HITS OKLAHOMA (Just After A Major EarthQuake)

'Beaver Tail' Tornado Hits Oklahoma

At least one tornado — and most likely many more — ripped through southwest Oklahoma last night (Nov. 7) due to textbook twister weather, just days after the biggest earthquake in the state's history.

One twister has been confirmed by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Norman, Okla., and today, their storm damage survey teams will deploy to investigate the tornado tracks. They will most likely confirm other tornadoes and rate their strength.

"There were probably quite a few more than one tornado," said Mark Austin, a meteorologist at the NWS office in Norman.

Baseball-size hail pounded the state. Wind gusts up to 92 mph were reported. A twister flipped a storm-chaser's car, but he escaped unscathed.

Many buildings in Oklahoma are vulnerable to severe weather after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake rocked the state this past weekend. The earthquake was the largest in the state's history, and was bookended by a magnitude 4.7 foreshock and a magnitude 4.7 aftershock, which struck last night.

No twister-related injuries have been reported, but an Oklahoma State University extension office was destroyed in Tillman County, in the southwest part of the state.

Storm survey teams will be analyzing the damage today to determine the storms' strength on the Enhanced Fujita tornado damage scale. The last EF-2 or stronger tornado to hit Oklahoma in November was in 1987, according to the Weather Channel.

"We have survey crews going out today and they're going to verify that all those tornadoes were confirmed before we send out our reports," Austin told OurAmazingPlanet.
Tornado Alley's picturesque tornadoes are formed by the collision of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cool, dry Arctic air. Yesterday, Oklahoma had quite a bit of moisture in the air, combined with lots of instability due to temperatures in the mid-70s Fahrenheit (around 21 Celsius), and a good bit of wind shear, the change in wind direction over a short height.
"It was pretty much typical of what you would see with any tornado outbreak," Austin said.
To form a tornado, the warm air rises and hits the wind shear and creates the rotation — think of a pinwheel with air pushing in opposite directions on the top and bottom. Below the pinwheel, a cap of warm air bottles up surface heat below about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters).
Heat builds until it punches through the cap, triggering a thunderstorm. With enough air shooting up and down, the pinwheel is knocked on its side, creating a huge rotating mass of clouds called a mesocyclone — the hallmark of a tornado-spawning supercell storm — from which a funnel cloud can shoot down.
Several apparently distinct twisters were captured on videos posted to YouTube. One twister had a "beavertail" and another twister had a classic "stovepipe" funnel, said the Weather Channel's Greg Forbes.

A beavertail shoots out of the bottom of a funnel cloud where the storm is sucking in air that is warm and moist — in other words, unstable — Austin said. Moisture yesterday even poured over the mountains in southwest Oklahoma, then condensed and formed tails in wall clouds, the low, rotating clouds that can spawn tornadoes.

The outbreak marked the first big action of the second-tornado season, which usually hits hard in Dixie Alley in the late fall, southeast of the well-known Tornado Alley.

More severe weather has been forecast for the Plains today, from Springfield, Mo., to southwest Louisiana.

NEWS - OKLAHOMA SEISMIC ACTIVITY MAY NOT BE OVER, EXPERTS SAY

Oklahoma's seismic activity may not be over, experts say

 

By Matt Dinger and Tiffany Gibson    

Published: November 7, 2011

The 5.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the state Saturday night did not cause significant damage nor have any serious injuries been reported — but the seismic activity may be far from over, scientists said.
The brunt of damage has been reported in Lincoln County, the epicenters of recent quakes, and in adjacent Pottawatomie County.
Minor damage to 12 homes was reported, and a stretch of U.S. 62 buckled in Lincoln County, said authorities. One building on the campus of St. Gregory's University in Shawnee also was damaged.
After the main shock, there were 12 temblors registering at magnitudes of 3.0 or higher and more than 70 quakes with magnitudes of 1.0 to 2.5, Oklahoma Geological Survey research scientist Amie Gibson said Sunday.
Those quakes — often known as aftershocks — are defined after the fact. A 4.7 magnitude earthquake that hit at 2:12 a.m. Saturday was initially thought to be the main shock until the 5.6 magnitude quake struck later in the day. That defined the earlier event as a foreshock, Gibson said.
“They're all individual earthquakes. People like to lump them in. It kind of helps people understand the sequence of events,” she said.
While scientists cannot predict earthquakes, Gibson said she would be surprised if they suddenly stopped considering the high amount of seismic activity over the weekend.
“With the pattern we're looking at, I don't see it stopping anytime immediately soon. I'd like it to stop, but I don't see that happening right now,” she said.
“We really hope that the 5.6 was the main shock because I don't want to see anything like that again, personally. It would be ignorant to assume anything right now, because who would assume that we'd have the two biggest ones in one day?” Gibson said.
Record-breakerBefore Saturday night, the strongest earthquake recorded was April 9, 1952, in El Reno, according to the geological survey. Its magnitude was 5.5.
U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Don Blakeman said the agency doesn't know why Saturday's quakes struck so close together.
He said Oklahoma sits in the middle of the North American plate, which sometimes can build up pressure that would trigger an earthquake.
Oklahoma Natural Gas spokesman Don Sherry said that no ruptured gas pipelines have been reported.
“Pipelines are designed to withstand a lot of that stress. It doesn't appear that we've had any significant operation difficulties,” Sherry said.
Gas pipelines are monitored remotely 24 hours a day from the Oklahoma City office, he said.
ONG supplies about three-quarters of the state with natural gas, including Lincoln County.
“If we did experience some sort of damage associated with pipelines, we'd know about it pretty quickly. Just because they're buried beneath the ground doesn't mean we don't know what's going on,” Sherry said.
Engineers consider seismic activity when the pipelines are designed and installed, and pipelines routinely undergo inspection, Sherry said.
“Part of the engineering that goes into the construction of the pipeline is that there are these stresses present. There's going to be movement and shifting. I'm not saying they're impervious to earthquakes, certainly not, but there is a lot of thought that goes into the fact that the earth is constantly moving,” Sherry said.
Inspections madeThe state Transportation Department is inspecting bridges within 50 miles of the quake's epicenter. No bridges have been closed for repair, according the state Department of Emergency Management.
Also, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has inspected dams within 70 miles of the epicenter and found no problems, the emergency management department reported.
Betsy Randolph, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, said U.S. 62 was shut down about 1:20 a.m. Sunday in Lincoln County for resurfacing after the earthquake. The road was reopened an hour later.
Randolph said troopers on duty during the earthquake made cursory checks on the Capitol and other state buildings for damage. She said no damage was found, but the Department of Central Services will be doing more comprehensive examinations this week.
Crumbling bricksLincoln County Emergency Manager Joey Wakefield said the chimney on a two-story house collapsed near Prague. He said most of the damage was minor except for brick fireplaces that crumbled in several homes. There were 12 homes that sustained minor damage in the county, most involving damage to brick facades and cracks in wallboard, as well as roof and chimney damage, the state Department of Emergency Management reported.
MacArthur bridge between Kickapoo and Harrison also sustained damage caused by the earthquake, according to the Pottawatomie County sheriff's office Facebook page.
Shawnee Emergency Management Director Don Lynch reported on the city's website that two buildings and one residence received minor damage in the quake.
Part of the upper story of one of the walls at Neals Home Furnishings also fell, and one residence in the Aydelotte area had interior damage, Lynch wrote.
Four spires on top of Benedictine Hall at St. Gregory's University were damaged, and the turret on the southwest column was removed by a large crane and covered with a tarp to protect it from expected rain.
Medical emergenciesLara O'Leary, spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority, said that paramedics were called on two earthquake-related calls Saturday night.
O'Leary said paramedics arrived to help a 72-year-old woman whose heart was racing after the quake.
O'Leary said paramedics also responded to help a 70-year-old man who fell in the shower during the earthquake.
He was taken to a hospital in good condition.
Wakefield said the injuries in Lincoln County were minor.
He said most of the injuries occurred when a brick fell on someone's arm or hand.
Two injuries were reported to the state health department: A Lincoln County man hit his head when trying to run out of his home during the earthquake and a Pottawatomie County woman cut her foot on broken glass after the earthquake.
Neither was hospitalized, according to the state emergency management department.

NEWS - EARTHQUAKE, AFTERSHOCKS FELT ACROSS OKLAHOMA REGION

Earthquake, aftershocks felt across Oklahoma, region

Multiple earthquakes shook much of central Oklahoma early Saturday, rousing people from their sleep. It was felt as far away as Pleasant Hill, Mo.

FROM STAFF REPORTS    

Published: November 5, 2011

A 4.7 magnitude earthquake rattled homes across central Oklahoma early Saturday.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the initial quake was centered about six miles north of Prague about 2:12 a.m.
That quake was followed by a series of aftershocks. A 3.4 magnitude aftershock was felt moments later followed by another 2.7 magnitude aftershock about five miles southeast of Sparks. Sparks is east of the metro area in Lincoln County.
And those aftershocks continued as a 3.6 magnitude quake struck about 8:36 a.m., also centered about two miles southeast of Sparks.
The National Weather Service in Norman said via its Facebook page the earthquake was felt in Norman and also as far away as weather offices in Topeka, Kan., and Pleasant Hill, Mo.
There have been no reports of significant damage caused by the quake. According to OG&E's System Watch webpage it did not cause power outages anywhere in that company's coverage area across the state. Oklahoma Natural Gas is not reporting any gas leaks or service outages.
Tom Foster was awakened in his southwest Oklahoma City home by what he believes was an aftershock.
"It was a little later than what they say was the initial quake so I think I felt one of the aftershocks," he said. "The bigger quake didn't wake me up. But I know we've already had several phone calls from out of state relatives wondering what happened. I guess it's more interesting than anything that was dangerous."
Heather Spicer of Sapulpa said the quake woke her son and dog up.
"At first I thought and airplane had crashed nearby," she said. "But now I believe it was an earthquake because the whole house just kept vibrating with what sounded like distant thunder outside."
Matt Hoover of Perkins was wrapping birthday presents at 2:20 a.m. when he felt the quake. He thought the experience, his first with a quake, was exciting.
"The whole house started to shake and a low rumble could be heard throughout the house," he said. "It lasted about 20 seconds."

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yup, its true, we FELT this one..weve had reporst the entire time weve lived here of earthquakes, and may have heard a "pop" or a "bump" sound and that was all, but THIS one we felt, and we felt it good.

craig was in the bathroom, daniel was playing a game in the livingroom, and i was right here at my PC when i heard, what i thought was allot of movement and sound from my livingroom, like  rough housing. i was about to ask daniel what the heck he was doing when the floor started to roll...my chair was rolling in circles, and the windows were ratteling, and the house shook for a good 90 seconds..

just after it subsided. craig ran into the doorframe looking at me, asking "DID YOU FEEL THAT EARTHQUAKE?!?!?!" 

umm, yes, the house felt it..lol

then right behind him was daniel running in the same doorway, looking at me saying " WAS THAT AN EARTHQUAKE?!?!?!"

yes...lol

for whatever reason, it didnt concern, me, it was exciting, and different and memorable..and to some degree, fun.

im sure because no harm nor damage was done..but still. i had NO concernes whatso ever when it hit...i just  rode it through..

just as it was hitting and right behind it facebook was all a buzz with connections and status updates and thoughts about it..

it was amazing, to me...

 took a screen print shot of the page the report for the quake was on.

and one 24 hours later (roughly, to show all the aftershocks)

my home location, in realtation to the epicenter of this big earthquake

some humor

MICHELLE