Oklahoma quake buckles highway, damages several homes

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No serious injuries had been reported as of midnight after the 5.6 magnitude earthquake near Oklahoma City, but a major highway buckled in three places, at least three homes sustained major damage and others had roof and chimney damage, officials said.

U.S. Highway 62, which crosses Lincoln County, buckled west of Prague, Okla., according to Aaron Bennett, a dispatcher with Lincoln County 911 and emergency management.

‘There’s a boulder the size of an SUV in a rural road,’ Bennett said, noting the quake had left many coping with ‘a lot of broken glass and ceiling tiles.’

‘We’re still experiencing aftershocks,’ he said, adding that emergency managers planned to wait until morning’s light to make a more thorough assessment of the damage.

The earthquake was centered about 45 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, less than 24 hours after a 4.7 temblor hit the state, authorities said.

The latest quake, which happened at 10:53 p.m. Central Time, sent shock waves for about 20 to 30 seconds, authorities said. It was part of a series of quakes Saturday.

Emergency phone lines were tied up, Bennett said, mainly by residents calling to report they had felt the latest quake.

‘This is new to us - -we usually get tornadoes,’ he said. ‘A lot of people are just shook up and worried. Hopefully, that will be it for a while.’

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-- Molly Hennesy-Fiske in Houston