Oklahoma: 5.6 earthquake hit the state at 10:53 pm

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Oklahoma at 10:53 p.m. local time Saturday (03:53 GMT), according to U.S. Geological Survey.

The seismic monitoring agency said the quake was centered about 44 mile east-northeast of Oklahoma City.

It had initially reported the temblor as a 5.2 magnitude quake.

The tremor was one of the biggest earthquake in Oklahoma history and caused significant damage.

Chimneys collapsed through roofs of homes in Lincoln County – 50 miles from Oklahoma City.

Damage to the Prague library included collapsed air conditioning ducts and a collapsed wall.

Several roadways have buckled, including Highway 62 and other county roads, according to KJRH radio.

The quake – the biggest of four that shook the centre of the state – rattled a college football stadium 50 miles away and sent shudders through buildings and homes in distant communities and cities.

Emergency authorities had no immediate reports of injuries but one county’s sheriff’s office said it was responding to numerous calls and checking for any damages.

It said the quake struck near the community of Sparks — in eastern Oklahoma between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

The temblor shook the stadium at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater near the end of the school’s football game with Kansas State.

The quake was one of several to rattle the state Saturday, including a magnitude 4.7 earthquake that shook the same area early Saturday.

Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said no injuries were reported to emergency management officials and that there had been no reports of injuries.

If the intensity of the Saturday night quake is confirmed, it would be the state’s strongest on record. USGS records show that a 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck El Reno, just west of Oklahoma City, in 1952 and, before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, a quake of similar magnitude 5.5 struck in northeastern Indian Territory in 1882.

The quake was felt as far away as Tennessee and Wisconsin, according to reports received by the USGS.

Saturday’s earlier temblor, which hit at 2:12 a.m., woke people and pets as it shook an area that stretched from Texas to Missouri. Its epicenter was 6 miles north of Prague in Lincoln County, in the rolling hills about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City.

A 3.4 magnitude aftershock was reported at 2:27 a.m. from the same location, as well as a 2.7 magnitude aftershock at 2:44 a.m.

Oklahoma Geological Survey researcher Austin Holland told Oklahoma City television station KOTV that the earthquake and aftershocks occurred on a known fault line.