An earthquake estimated at magnitude 5.1 shook communities in at least five states Friday night.
The quake struck around 11:30 p.m. local time and was centered near the town of Prague in central Oklahoma, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
After the event, several people took to social media to report seeing cracks in the walls and hearing loud thuds.
There were no immediate reports of damage in the first hours after the quake, but the USGS warned that the threat of aftershocks would continue for some time.
The Oklahoma City metro experienced a series of earthquakes in less than a month, the most severe being a magnitude 4.4.
Based on initial estimates, Friday’s earthquake ranks among the top four largest events to affect the Sooner State since 1900.
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake that rocked Oklahoma in 2016 caused moderate damage in north-central Oklahoma, and research has linked it to wastewater injection from oil and gas production.
The USGS has previously noted that many of the earthquakes across the Southern Plains are related to human activity.
The agency says hydraulic fracturing (the process of injecting water, sand, or chemicals into the ground to disrupt rock to access oil or gas reserves) can cause earthquakes and affect groundwater. He said that there is a sex.
It is still too early to tell whether human activity has influenced the recent earthquakes.
