Tulsans Report Damage Miles From Earthquake Epicenter

While some people are cleaning up in Pawnee, others in Tulsa are reporting seeing newly formed cracks and pictures falling off the wall.

Bill Dunning lives near the airport and initially thought the earthquake might have been a low flying jet.

It didn't take him long to realize an earthquake was happening.

"The shaking and the up and down motion and the roaring that was just, I've never heard that before," he said.

When the shaking finally stopped, in Tulsa 50 miles from the epicenter,  Dunning found cracks scattered through the house and plenty more signs of a quake.

"All of these [posters] got moved," said Dunning. "That was the whole thing even the pictures got moved."

Dr. J Bryan Tapp is a geologist at the University of Tulsa. He says this type of earthquake causes the earth the slips side by side.

Tapp said, "The damage can be pretty severe cause imagine having a building on top of this and suddenly we shift the building is not built to withstand that kind of lateral acceleration."

The 5.6 earthquake of 2011 is the closest to rival the most recent quake.

According to Tapp, "It is either at the same level l or one step higher."

The Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak said after a quake like this, you should check your home. First, if you have a chimney check it.

A break there can be one of the first indicators that you have damage.

"Walk around your home and check for large cracks. If you have a pool, I would check for those things. But again, take pictures document the damage," Doak said.

Although he's a bit shook, Dunning is happy the damage isn't worse.

If you're thinking about insurance, Doak said to keep in mind that after events like this companies may not sell earthquake insurance for 15 to 30 days.