Oklahomans Take To Social Media To Report On Cushing Earthquake

A 5.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the Cushing community Sunday night, and the news spread quickly on social media.

You might think most Oklahomans would be used to feeling earthquakes by now, but many say the ones strong enough to shake the pictures on the wall still surprise them.

According to seismograph readings, the quake began just before 7:45 Sunday night; that’s right about the time News On 6 anchor Erin Conrad took to Facebook to report on it.

"We are live in the newsroom. We just felt that earthquake - that was a big one," she said.

It was initially reported as a 5.3 but was later adjusted to a 5.0.

11/6/2016 Related Story: Earthquake Causes Major Damage In Downtown Cushing

The quake was centered near Cushing in Payne County but was felt for hundreds of miles around.

Christian Jones sent us a little video he shot in downtown Cushing that showed a lot of emergency vehicle activity and bricks and concrete from damaged buildings on the sidewalk.

Our phones at News On 6 were ringing off the hook with people asking about the earthquake, and so were the phones of some emergency lines.

During Erin's Facebook Live, one emergency manager said calling 911 to ask about the earthquake can tie up the phones, preventing someone with an actual emergency to get through.

"Heath Underwood, ‘Please don't call unless it's an emergency...Wagoner County 911 Center is overloaded with calls.’"

Underwood is the Emergency Management Chief in Wagoner County.

If you don’t have an emergency and are looking for some information on earthquakes you may have felt, don’t call 911. Instead, call us, contact us on Facebook or send us a tweet and we’ll give you some updates.