The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 1:01 p.m. CDT. The epicenter was 7 miles east-southeast of Harper, Kansas, or about 43 miles southwest of Wichita, Kansas. There have been no immediate reports of damage. Wichita television station KAKE-TV said officials near the epicenter in Harper County, Kansas, reported no known damage.
Shaking was felt in Wichita as well as in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; the latter is some 135 miles from the epicenter. One local television meteorologist in Tulsa dubbed it a "thunderquake" due to thunderstorms occurring at the same time:
Twitter traffic and the USGS's "Did You Feel It?" Web page indicated that the quake was felt as far away as Manhattan and Lawrence, Kansas.
The USGS reported an apparent aftershock registering a magnitude of 3.4 in the same area at 1:35 p.m. CDT. Reports to the USGS indicate it was only felt by residents of rural areas close to the epicenter.
Hundreds of earthquakes, most of them minor, have occurred in Oklahoma over the past few years; scientists believe wastewater disposal related to natural gas extraction may be inducing the activity.
Thursday's quake, however, was centered over southern Kansas. While its magnitude of 4.4 may be revised as seismologists review more data, it currently ties an Aug. 19 temblor near Guthrie, Oklahoma, as the strongest of 2014 in this region of the country.
http://www.wunderground.com/news/wichita-tulsa-earthquake-kansas-oklahoma-20141002
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