Oklahoma experienced its most powerful earthquake in state history Saturday night, but a cursory inspection of the Mother Road in the affected region turned up no apparent damage.
The quake struck at 10:53 p.m. Saturday. According to revised figures by the U.S. Geological Society, it measured 5.6 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was near the small village of Sparks, about six miles south of the Route 66 town of Davenport.
The quake broke the previous state record of 5.5, set in 1952 in El Reno. A series of aftershocks followed through Sunday morning. A smaller earthquake (4.0 magnitude) also occurred early Saturday morning, but many people slept through it.
According to The Oklahoman newspaper, the Saturday night quake damaged a portion of U.S. 62 in Lincoln County. Several homes in that county saw collapsing chimneys or cracked foundations.
I cruised Route 66 from Tulsa to Luther on Sunday morning to see whether I could spot damage to historic buildings or structures, including on the obscure Ozark Trail alignments. Fortunately, everything seemed normal.
A clerk at a convenience store in Stroud said a few chimney collapses occurred in town, but most of the damage occurred in towns near the quake’s epicenter, such as Meeker and Prague. A volunteer at the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum in the hamlet of Warwick said several items fell off the walls at the museum, but none of the memorabilia was damaged.
I experienced the earthquake shortly after shutting off the TV following the Oklahoma State-Kansas State football game. It initially felt like a big truck rumbling by on the street, but the vibration intensified dramatically after about five seconds. It then settled into a low vibration for another 20 seconds or so.
I really wasn’t frightened by the quake as I was fascinated. But quite a few Oklahomans I talked to were alarmed by the quake because they’re not used to such seismic activity.