The other day there was an earthquake in Oklahoma that was initially set at 4.5 on the Richter scale but was later upgraded to a 5.1. Folks might have missed the news of this earthquake however as it occurred the same day as the Chilean miners were rescued after 69 days below the ground after the mine they were working in had a cave-in.
While Oklahoma is not the first state a person thinks about when the term earthquake comes up, apparently, the fault lines in Oklahoma are fairly active although usually not of this high a magnitude. As far as that goes, many people are not aware that occurred one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in what is now the United States was on the New Madrid Fault line near St Louis in the early 1800s (it caused the Mississippi River to run backwards for a period of time).
With a magnitude of 5.1, there can be property damage from the earthquake. For example, it can cause garage doors to go off track. It may not even be easily noticeable that a problem has occurred until the homeowner attempts to open the garage door and is unable to do so.
People in Oklahoma are probably more aware and used to garage doors being damaged by a tornado, or super thunder boomer of some sort. That’s the type of damage where tree limbs can be thrown up against the garage door, visibly damaging the garage door and obviously causing it to need to be repaired by the local garage door repairman. But the earthquake damage, where the door just might be off track also requires a call to the local garage door repairman but not quite as easily noted until the door jams or doesn’t open at all. That would be the final level of frustration for some people, to have the garage door jam as the owner is attempting to go somewhere and unable to get the car out of the garage.
So even as 33 men saw the light of day for the first time in 69 days of mostly darkness, the world continued on its path with other problems and news stories. Newer news stories will come along in the next few days and weeks. Maybe even further earthquakes in Oklahoma that will wind up being the top news story of the day the next time it happens. Of course, the news stories most likely won’t say anything about the homeowners who have to call the garage door repairman.
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