Cushing Earthquake Damage Revealed in Daylight

<p>The day after the 5.0 magnitude earthquake outside Cushing, damage is apparent citywide. Most of the buildings in town are older, many built in the early 1900s, but the 3-year-old public safety building also suffered significant damage.</p>

Monday, November 7th 2016, 2:02 pm

By: News 9


Business owners in Cushing spent the Monday after the 5.0-magnitude earthquake checking out damage on their properties.

Most of the visible damage includes fallen bricks and collapsed roofs, but many people are waiting to start clean up until they find out whether their earthquake insurance will cover them.

Everet Rossiter has owned pool supply store Aqua Pleasures in downtown Cushing for 25 years. He just recently paid $30,000 out-of-pocket to fix earthquake damage because that was still less than his insurance deductible of $50,000.

Now, Rossiter is facing major repairs all over again. His business's walls shifted and falling bricks from a neighboring building knocked a hole in the roof. Rossiter hopes he is covered this time.

"I changed insurance companies, went to a different company. They promised me they would take care of it if it happened again," he said.

"The question that I had from some of the city folks was, 'Is oil and gas activity covered?' Ninety percent of all insurance companies cover if it's man made, it's not a question. The question is do you have coverage?" Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak said.

Doak and the state emergency management team went door-to-door downtown Monday to check on the buildings, focusing on the businesses before they address the homes in the area. Most of the buildings in downtown Cushing were built in the early 1900s, and the recent earthquakes are testing their limits and the limits of the people there.

"I moved here from California to get away from earthquakes. Here I am with earthquakes, so you just learn to deal with them," Rossiter said.

Rossiter and his neighbors are trying to help each other get through the aftermath of this most recent quake. One man put up a sign advertising bricklaying work, as everyone tries to move forward.

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