(CNN) The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is telling operators to shut down 35 disposal wells that may have played a role in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook at least six states Saturday, Gov. Mary Fallin said.

The disposal wells, which are linked to fracking and other industries that need to dispose of toxic waste water by injecting it deep into the earth, have recently drawn concern that they may actually induce earthquakes.

"This is a mandatory directive," Fallin said.

The commission, which regulates fuel, oil, gas, public utilities and transportation industries, is investigating to determine the epicenter of the quake that hit Pawnee, said commission spokesman Matt Skinner.

The Environmental Protection Agency is also investigating, Fallin said.

Skinner says earthquakes in Oklahoma are generally not directly caused by fracking, but rather by pressure from the disposal wells, which are used by the industry to get rid of the toxic waste water that comes out of the earth along with oil and gas.

"The disposal wells dispose into the state's deepest formation, the Arbuckle formation, which is right above what we call the basement," Skinner said. The basement is above where the critical faults lie that shift and make earthquakes."

Those disposal wells within five miles of the 10-mile section of the fault in question are to be shut down within seven days, and all the other wells must be shut down within 10 days, Fallin said.

Controversial disposal method

Oil and gas drillers and other industries use the disposal wells to inject toxic waste water deep into the earth, which raises questions about possible pollution of the water supply. The wells are used to dispose of fracking waste.

Saturday's earthquake, which some people described as the most powerful in memory, rendered six buildings in Pawnee Nation uninhabitable, Fallin said. Rural Pawnee County and the city of Pawnee had at least six buildings damaged, with one homeowner suffering minor injuries, Fallin said.

The earthquake damaged at least one historic building in Pawnee, city officials told CNN.

"It's an old historical building about 100 years old. It's still standing but some of the outer layers of sandstone fell. It could be cosmetic damage. We don't know yet," said Pawnee Mayor Brad Sewell.

Fallin issued a declaration of emergency for Pawnee County to start the process of "helping individuals, families and businesses impacted by the earthquakes" and help them request any necessary assistance.

The earthquake was also felt in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska and Iowa, according to the US Geological Survey.

"A quake this size would shake for about 15 seconds and it was a shallow quake, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep," said Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist.

With earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, "the ground is softer, so the seismic waves have a much farther travel distance then an earthquake in California or Nevada," said another USGS geophysicist, Robert Sanders.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake near Pawnee. — Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) September 3, 2016

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is checking bridges for damage and structural engineers are assessing building safety, according to Fallin. The governor also said no "concerning structural problems" in the state's highways and bridges have been found.

There have been a total of 11 earthquakes in the same area Saturday, the USGS said. The largest was at 7:02 a.m. (8:02 a.m. ET), with the preliminary 5.6 magnitude. The other quake magnitudes ranged from 2.7 to 3.6.

Despite minimal damage, the quake set off anxious speculation on social media.

Wow! Felt the earth move in Rogers, Arkansas. Had to Google to find out what was going on. #Earthquake — CarolLangston (@CarolLangston) September 3, 2016

We survived #Earthquake 2k16. Hashtag KCforever. We will rebuild. We will press on. pic.twitter.com/teTlwixZEn — Mike Brooks (@MikeBrooks) September 3, 2016

This morning wake up call brought to by Oklahoma's oil and natural gas industry. — Clifton Adcock (@cliftonhowze) September 3, 2016

Some tweeters saw humor in the quake, with no serious casualties.

That wasn't an earthquake that hit Oklahoma this morning. That was Sooner fans champ hopes crashing to Earth on the 1st Saturday of season. — Eric (@illstr8r) September 3, 2016

"Oooooooooklahoma, where the fault lines rumble like a train..." Yeah, NO. I like our theme song the way it is. #earthquake — Ree Drummond (@thepioneerwoman) September 3, 2016

But a March report released by the USGS showed that people in parts of Texas and Oklahoma now face similar ground-shaking risks from human-induced activity, such as fluid injection or extraction, as residents face from natural earthquakes in California.

The agency outlined the risk of these so-called "induced" earthquakes, noting that Oklahoma City and the surrounding region face a 5-12% chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016.

Seismic activity is also on the rise in certain energy-intensive states after a relatively stable period of about 30 years, according to the USGS report. Earthquake rates have "recently increased markedly" in multiple areas of the Central and Eastern United States, especially since 2010, the report said. Its 2014 model of seismic risks did not consider man-made quakes.

The agency said several damaging quakes have occurred recently near injection wells. For instance, a magnitude 5.6-earthquake caused minor injuries and damage to homes in 2011 near Prague, Oklahoma. Other tremors in these fracking regions include a 5.3-magnitude quake near Trinidad, Colorado, in 2011 and a 4.8-magnitude quake near Timpson, Texas, in 2012.

As to whether the injection wells are what causes the earthquakes, and this quake in particular, Skinner would only say, "There's all kinds of theories as to why it puts pressure on the basement faults, but somehow that is happening and we have taken many actions based on that."</s>0 Pawnee Nation declares state of emergency after earthquake

PAWNEE, Okla. - Quick facts:

A 5.6 magnitude shook Green Country Saturday.

One man was injured.

Buildings suffered damage.

Related Headlines VIDEO: Pawnee earthquake damages pharmacy

The Pawnee Nation has declared a state of emergency after an earthquake shook the area Saturday.

Six of the nation's buildings were damaged, and two of those buildings suffered significant damage.

RELATED: Gov. Fallin declares state of emergency in Pawnee County following earthquake

Officials with the Pawnee County Emergency Management say buildings there suffered significant damage as the result of the earthquake.

The 5.6 magnitude quake was centered near Pawnee.

SEE MORE: Massive earthquake shakes Green Country

It is tied with a 2011 earthquake for the strongest in Oklahoma history. Multiple aftershocks followed.

At least one man was injured.

Joe Alley said he was trying to protect his child when bricks fell and hit his head.

SEE MORE: How to stay safe during an earthquake

He was later released from the hospital.

Buildings near Sixth and Harrison suffered significant damage.

Though emergency officials at first said a building collapsed, they later said the damage did not result in a full collapse.

Three buildings were deemed unsafe.

Officials said other structural damage was reported.

SEE MORE: Pictures of earthquake damage

Officials said part of main street in Pawnee was blocked off due to damage.

The Northeast Junior Rodeo Association of Oklahoma confirmed the rodeo there is canceled.

Governor Mary Fallin said emergency management is going to assist in Pawnee after the earthquake.

ODOT confirmed that bridges and roads only received very minor damage.

SEE MORE: FOX23 Earthquakes Page

Fallin said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake.

Local businesses in Pawnee suffered damages as well.

White's Foodliner estimates the store lost thousands of dollars in damages.

A local liquor store also reported hundreds in damages.

"When a disaster like this happens on a holiday weekend, there's a sense that we're disconnected, that's not true. We're still connected, and I want everyone to be able to see it here." Senator James Lankford said.

---

Five things to know on FOX23:

© 2019 Cox Media Group.</s>One of Oklahoma's largest earthquakes on record rattled other parts of the Midwest on Saturday from Nebraska to North Texas, and likely will turn new attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.

The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7:02 a.m. Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, a key energy-producing region. That matches a November 2011 quake in the same region.

Geologists say damage is not likely in earthquakes below magnitude 4.0; no major damage was immediately reported Saturday.

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Norman, Oklahoma, all reported feeling the earthquake. Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.

Saturday's quake was centered about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma, which has a population of about 2,200. Earlier this week, the same spot, which is about 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, saw a magnitude 3.2 temblor.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. State regulators have asked producers to reduce wastewater disposal volumes in earthquake-prone regions of the state. Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation's most shake-prone, and one Oklahoma region has a 1 in 8 chance of a damaging quake in 2016, with other parts closer to 1 in 20.

A cluster of quakes in northwestern Oklahoma this year included a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, and several 4.7 quakes were felt last fall before regulators stepped in to limit disposal activity.

Sean Weide in Omaha, Nebraska, told The Associated Press that he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy. Weide said he and one of his daughters "heard the building start creaking" and said it "was surreal."</s>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma’s key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Nebraska to North Texas on Saturday, and likely will bring fresh attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.

The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6-magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:02 a.m. Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which since 2013 has asked wastewater-well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state, directed about 35 wells within an approximately 500-square-mile area around the epicenter to shut down within seven to 10 days because of previous connections between the injection of wastewater and earthquakes.

“All of our actions have been based on the link that researchers have drawn between the Arbuckle disposal well operations and earthquakes in Oklahoma,” spokesman Matt Skinner said Saturday. “We’re trying to do this as quickly as possible, but we have to follow the recommendations of the seismologists, who tell us everything going off at once can cause an [earthquake].”

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago; Gilbert, Arizona; Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; Memphis, Tennessee; and Big Lake in southwest Texas, all reported feeling the earthquake.

Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter. “We’ve got buildings cracked,” Randell said. “Most of it’s brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.”

Randell also said a man suffered a minor head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him as he protected a child. The man was treated and released.

The office of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin posted that state highway crews were checking for bridge damage and the state Department of Emergency Management would assess damage and determine how to address it.

The damage is not as severe as the 2011 quake near Prague, Oklahoma, about 60 miles south of Pawnee, despite being the same magnitude and approximately the same depth below the surface. Saturday’s was 3.7 miles deep, compared to 3.1 miles in 2011. Both are shallow quakes, during which shaking is more intense, like setting off “a bomb directly under a city,” USGS seismologist Susan Hough has said.

However, hard bedrock beneath the surface in north-central Oklahoma is likely the reason for less damage, Oklahoma Geological Survey geophysicist Jefferson Chang said, adding that the subsurface around Prague is softer.

“It’s pretty much comparable to the Prague event,” Chang said. “But in harder rock, it won’t shake as much.”

Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm.

“Then it just… Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,” said Wills, who lives about 2-½ miles outside of town. “It rocked my house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.”

Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation’s most shake-prone areas, and one Oklahoma region has a one-in-eight chance of a damaging quake in 2016. The area where the quake was centered is on the edge of a region covered by a “regional earthquake response plan” issued in March by the commission, whose goal was to cut the number of earthquakes by reducing wastewater injection volume by 40 percent from 2014 levels.

Oklahoma and Kansas both had an uptick in quakes in the first half of this decade. Kansas moved quickly to limit volume, while Oklahoma concentrated on the depth of the disposal. Kansas saw a 60-percent drop while the frequency of quakes in Oklahoma continued to climb.</s>OKLAHOMA CITY — A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma’s key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Nebraska to North Texas on Saturday, and likely will bring fresh attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.

The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7:02 a.m. Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which since 2013 has asked wastewater-well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state, directed about 35 wells within an approximately 500-square-mile area around the epicenter to shut down within seven to 10 days because of previous connections between the injection of wastewater and earthquakes.

“All of our actions have been based on the link that researchers have drawn between the Arbuckle disposal well operations and earthquakes in Oklahoma,” spokesman Matt Skinner said Saturday. “We’re trying to do this as quickly as possible, but we have to follow the recommendations of the seismologists, who tell us everything going off at once can cause an (earthquake).”

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago; Gilbert, Arizona; Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; Memphis, Tennessee; and Big Lake in southwest Texas, all reported feeling the earthquake. Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.

Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter. “We’ve got buildings cracked,” Randell said. “Most of it’s brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.”

Randell also said a man suffered a minor head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him as he protected a child. The man was treated and released.

The office of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted that state highway crews were checking for bridge damage and the state Department of Emergency Management would assess damage and determine how to address it.

The damage is not as severe as the 2011 quake near Prague, Oklahoma, about 60 miles south of Pawnee, despite being the same magnitude and approximately the same depth below the surface. Saturday’s was 3.7 miles deep, compared to 3.1 miles in 2011. Both are shallow quakes, during which shaking is more intense, like setting off “a bomb directly under a city,” USGS seismologist Susan Hough has said.

However, hard bedrock beneath the surface in north-central Oklahoma is likely the reason for less damage, Oklahoma Geological Survey geophysicist Jefferson Chang said, adding that the subsurface around Prague is softer.

“It’s pretty much comparable to the Prague event,” Chang said. “But in harder rock, it won’t shake as much.”

Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm.

“Then it just … Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,” said Wills, who lives about 2½ miles outside of town. “It rocked my house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.”

Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation’s most shake-prone, and one Oklahoma region has a 1 in 8 chance of a damaging quake in 2016. The area where the quake was centered is on the edge of a region covered by a “regional earthquake response plan” issued in March by the commission, whose goal was to cut the number of earthquakes by reducing wastewater injection volume by 40 percent from 2014 levels.

Oklahoma and Kansas both had an uptick in quakes in the first half of this decade. Kansas moved quickly to limit volume, while Oklahoma concentrated on the depth of the disposal. Kansas saw a 60 percent drop while the frequency of quakes in Oklahoma continued to climb.

Sean Weide in Omaha, Nebraska, told the AP that he’d never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy. Weide said he and one of his daughters “heard the building start creaking” and said it “was surreal.”

Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Kyndra Richards cleans up at "White's Foodliner" after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Kyndra Richards cleans up at "White's Foodliner" after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP)</s>CHICAGO (AP) — One of the largest earthquakes in Oklahoma was felt Saturday morning from Nebraska to North Texas.

The 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7:02 a.m. Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, The United States Geological Survey said. That ties for Oklahoma's strongest earthquake on record, the first coming in November 2011.

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Norman, Oklahoma, all reported feeling the earthquake. Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. State regulators have asked producers to reduce wastewater disposal volumes in earthquake-prone regions of the state. Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation's most shake prone, and one Oklahoma region has a 1 in 8 chance of a damaging quake in 2016, with other parts closer to 1 in 20.

Saturday's quake was centered about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma. Earlier this week, the same spot, which is about 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, saw a magnitude 3.2 temblor.

Sean Weide in Omaha, Nebraska, told The Associated Press that he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy. Weide said he and one of his daughters "heard the building start creaking" and said it "was surreal."</s>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma’s key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Illinois to the southwest part of Texas on Saturday, and likely will bring fresh attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.

The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7:02 a.m. Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which since 2013 has asked wastewater-well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state, is requiring 37 wells in a 514 square mile area around the epicenter of the earthquake to shut down within seven to 10 days because of previous connections between the injection of wastewater and earthquakes.

“All of our actions have been based on the link that researchers have drawn between the Arbuckle disposal well operations and earthquakes in Oklahoma,” spokesman Matt Skinner said Saturday. “We’re trying to do this as quickly as possible, but we have to follow the recommendations of the seismologists, who tell us everything going off at once can cause an (earthquake).”

Skinner said the commission’s “area of interest” includes another 211 square miles in Osage County, but doesn’t know how many wells may be involved because the area is under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and that the commission is working with that agency.

“EPA decides on the wells in Osage County. We don’t know anything about Osage County, legally we’re not even allowed to ask,” Skinner said.

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago; Gilbert, Arizona; Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; Memphis, Tennessee; and Big Lake in southwest Texas, all reported feeling the earthquake. Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.

Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter. “We’ve got buildings cracked,” Randell said. “Most of it’s brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.”

Randell also said a man suffered a minor head injury when part of a fireplace fell on him as he protected a child. The man was treated and released.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has declared a state of emergency for the county, allowing state agencies to make emergency purchases related to disaster relief and preparedness. The declaration is also the first step toward seeking federal aid should it be necessary

The damage is not as severe as the 2011 quake near Prague, Oklahoma, about 60 miles south of Pawnee, despite being the same magnitude and approximately the same depth. Saturday’s was 3.7 miles deep, compared to 3.1 miles in 2011. Both are shallow quakes, during which shaking is more intense, like setting off “a bomb directly under a city,” USGS seismologist Susan Hough has said.

However, hard bedrock beneath the surface in north-central Oklahoma is likely the reason for less damage, Oklahoma Geological Survey geophysicist Jefferson Chang said, adding that the subsurface around Prague is softer.

“It’s pretty much comparable to the Prague event,” Chang said. “But in harder rock, it won’t shake as much.”

Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm.

“Then it just … Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,” said Wills, who lives about 2½ miles outside of town. “It rocked my house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.”

Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Sandstone bricks from the side of the historic Pawnee County Bank litter the sidewalk after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. (Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman via AP) Kyndra Richards cleans up at “White’s Foodliner” after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region. Kyndra Richards cleans up at “White’s Foodliner” after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Saturday. The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened Saturday morning in north-central Oklahoma, on the fringe of an area where regulators had stepped in to limit wastewater disposal. That temblor matches a November 2011 quake in the same region.

Associated Press writers Kelly P. Kissel in Little Rock, Arkansas, Erica Hunzinger in Chicago and Ben Thomas in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.</s>The earthquake was also felt in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, and Iowa, according to the USGS.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a regulatory agency that examines the state's fuel, oil, gas, public utilities and transportation industries, is "reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake near Pawnee," Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said via Twitter.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is checking bridges for damage and structural engineers are assessing building safety according to Fallin.

The earthquake damaged at least one historic building in Pawnee, Oklahoma, city officials told CNN.

"It's an old historical building about 100 years old. It's still standing but some of the outer layers of sandstone fell, it could be cosmetic damage, we don't know yet," said Pawnee Mayor Brad Sewell. "A quake this size would shake for about 15 seconds and it was a shallow quake, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep," said Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist. There is no clear evidence of major damage from the earthquake, Pawnee Chamber of Commerce manager Tom Briggs told CNN. "We had some buildings, some of the older structures, delaminate. The fire department and electricians and police are going through the area," Briggs said. No injuries have been reported. There have been a total of 11 earthquakes in the same area Saturday, the USGS said. The largest was at 7:02 a.m. (8:02 a.m. ET), with the preliminary 5.6 magnitude. The other quake magnitudes ranged from 2.7 to 3.6. Despite minimal damage, the quake did set off anxious speculation on social media. Wow! Felt the earth move in Rogers, Arkansas. Had to Google to find out what was going on. #Earthquake — CarolLangston (@CarolLangston) September 3, 2016 We survived #Earthquake 2k16. Hashtag KCforever. We will rebuild. We will press on. pic.twitter.com/teTlwixZEn — Mike Brooks (@MikeBrooks) September 3, 2016 This morning wake up call brought to by Oklahoma's oil and natural gas industry. — Clifton Adcock (@cliftonhowze) September 3, 2016 showed that people in parts of Texas and Oklahoma now face similar ground-shaking risks from human-induced activity, such as fluid injection or extraction, as residents face from natural earthquakes in California. recent report released by the USGS showed that people in parts of Texas and Oklahoma now face similar ground-shaking risks from human-induced activity, such as fluid injection or extraction, as residents face from natural earthquakes in California. The agency outlined the risk of these so-called "induced" earthquakes, noting that Oklahoma City and the surrounding region face a 5 to 12% chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission "is working to get firmer data" to pinpoint the epicenter of the quake, said commission spokesman Matt Skinner. Skinner said earthquakes in Oklahoma are generally not caused by fracking, but rather by pressure from the disposal wells. "The disposal wells dispose into the state's deepest formation, the Arbuckle formation, which is right above what we call the basement. The basement is above where the critical faults lie that shift and make earthquakes," he explained. "There's all kinds of theories as to why it puts pressure on the basement faults, but somehow that is happening and we have taken many actions based on that," Skinner said. With earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, "the ground is softer, so the seismic waves have a much farther travel distance then an earthquake in California or Nevada," said Robert Sanders, USGS geophysicist.</s>A record-tying earthquake in the edge of Oklahoma's key energy-producing areas rattled the Midwest from Nebraska to North Texas on Saturday and likely will focus fresh new attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.

The United States Geological Survey said a 5.6 magnitude earthquake happened at 7.02am Saturday in north-central Oklahoma, which is a key energy-producing region.

That matches a November 2011 quake that hit the city of Prague, which is about 70 miles south of Pawnee.

Geologists say damage is not likely in earthquakes below magnitude 4.0, however, some buildings suffered severe structural damage from the quake in Pawnee.

Pawnee County Emergency Management Director Mark Randell said no buildings collapsed in the town of 2,200 about nine miles southeast of the epicenter, and there were no injuries, either.

'We've got buildings cracked,' Randell said. 'Most of it's brick and mortar, old buildings from the early 1900s.'

Pawnee furniture store owner Lee Wills told The Associated Press that he first thought it was a thunderstorm.

'Then it just ... Everything went crazy after that. It just started shaking,' said Wills, who lives about 2½ miles outside of town.

'It rocked my house like a rubber band. Threw stuff off cabinets and out of cabinets, broke glasses.'

According to FOX 23, officials with the Pawnee County Emergency Management are checking bridges and structures in the area.

Gov. Mary Fallin said emergency management is going to assist in Pawnee after the earthquake.

Fallin said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff is at the office reviewing disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake.

White's Foodliner store in Pawnee is closed for the day after the quake shook items off of the store shelves and onto the floor.

People in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Norman, Oklahoma, all reported feeling the earthquake.

Dallas TV station WFAA tweeted that the quake shook their studios, too.

Saturday's quake was centered about 9 miles northwest of Pawnee, Oklahoma, which has a population of about 2,200.

Earlier this week, the same spot, which is about 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, saw a magnitude 3.2 temblor.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production.

State regulators have asked producers to reduce wastewater disposal volumes in earthquake-prone regions of the state.

According to a recent report released by the USGS, Oklahoma faces similar ground-shaking risks from human-induced activity, including fluid injection or extraction, which is creating a risk similar to that of what people in California face from natural earthquakes in that state.

Some parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation's most shake-prone, and one Oklahoma region has a 1 in 8 chance of a damaging quake in 2016, with other parts closer to 1 in 20.

The USGS outlined the risk of the 'induced' earthquakes, and noted that Oklahoma City and the region surrounding face a five to 12 per cent chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016.

A cluster of quakes in northwestern Oklahoma this year included a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, and several 4.7 quakes were felt last fall before regulators stepped in to limit disposal activity.

Oklahoma saw a spike in earthquakes in 2009.

An estimated 890 quakes happened in the state last year, as at least 30 of them measured 4.0 or greater magnitude, according to the USGS.

Sean Weide in Omaha, Nebraska, told The Associated Press that he'd never been in an earthquake before and thought he was getting dizzy.

Weide said he and one of his daughters 'heard the building start creaking' and said it 'was surreal.'</s>The earthquake was felt in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, and Iowa, according to USGS geophysicists.

Despite the light damage from the sizable quake, the shakeup did set off alarm bells on social media.

"A quake this size would shake for about 15 seconds and it was a shallow quake, about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep," said Randy Baldwin, a USGS geophysicist.

There is no clear evidence of major damage from the earthquake, Pawnee, Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce manager Tom Briggs tells CNN.

With earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, "the ground is softer, so the seismic waves have a much farther travel distance then an earthquake in California or Nevada," said Robert Sanders, USGS geophysicist. "We had some buildings, some of the older structures, delaminate. The fire department and electricians and police are going through the area," Briggs said. No injuries have been reported. This is the biggest quake to hit the state since the November 2011, said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Pawnee, Oklahoma, tying the record for the strongest in state history. At least one person was injured.