TEG
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016
V V V
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
E A R T H Q U A K E
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
R A T T L E S
SATURDAY EARTHQUAKE FELT
IN EMPORIA, LYON COUNTY
8
V V V
By Brandy Nance
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake
shook northwest Oklahoma and
was felt in seven other states on
Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was the third-strongest
ever recorded in the state where
the power and frequency of earthquakes has dramatically increased
in recent years. The earthquake
was felt in the Lyon County area.
The Associated Press says the
earthquake, centered about 17
miles north of Fairview in northwestern Oklahoma, occurred at
11:07 a.m. and was reportedly felt
across Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico
and Texas. A second quake measured at 3.9 magnitude struck ten
minutes later, followed at 11:41
a.m. by a 2.5 magnitude quake and
at 12:21 p.m. by a 3.5 magnitude
temblor.
Oklahoma’s stronger and more
frequent earthquakes have been
linked to the injection into the
ground of the briny wastewater
left over from oil and gas production. All four earthquakes Saturday were in the same lightly
populated area near Fairview, a
town of about 2,600 that is about
100 miles northwest of Oklahoma
City. The area has had several
quakes of magnitude 4 since the
start of the year.
Several area residents reported
on The Gazette’s Facebook page
they felt the earthquake.
“My brother reports his couch
shook while he was sitting on it,”
said Linda Ulrey, adding that her
brother lives in Emporia.
“(It) made my closet doors
rattle here in eastern Emporia,”
said Marcus Hanson.
Council Grove residents also
reported feeling the earthquake.
“(We) felt it strong on the east
side of Council Grove,” said Beverly Nittler.
Some people took a humorous
approach to the earthquake.
“It’s a pretty ominous sign
when Oklahoma has more seismic activity than the San Andreas
valley. That’s what happens when
you cheat at basketball. You have
to buy earthquake insurance for
your hoop sins,” said Xavier Keough.
The strongest earthquake on
record in Oklahoma is a magnitude 5.6 temblor, which has also
been linked to wastewater injection. It was centered in Prague,
about 55 miles east of Oklahoma
City, in November 2011, damaged
200 buildings and shook a college
football stadium in Stillwater,
about 65 miles away.
SWEET GRANADA HAS ‘BERRY’
SUCCESSFUL VALENTINE’S DAY
By John Robinson
[email protected]
With Valentine’s Day falling
on a weekend in 2016, the Sweet
Granada wanted to give customers
ample time to satisfy their sweet
tooth and worked around the clock
from 10 a.m. on Saturday to 4 p.m.
on Sunday.
According to Kim Redeker,
owner, staying open allows the
shop to cater towards those who
didn’t have time to shop for the
holiday.
“It’s been a nice opportunity for
people who work nights to do their
Valentine’s Day shopping,” Redeker said. “A lot of people who get
off work late, a lot of people in the
service industry like police officers
and firefighters.”
Redeker said the crowds were
good all night, even during some
of the later hours of the evening
and early Sunday morning.
“We didn’t know what to expect
and we knew with the events going
on downtown it might be busy,”
she said. “It was steady all night
long, we had steady customers
every hour on the hour all night
long.”
While Redeker said most of the
chocolate sold well over the night,
By Jessie Wagoner
VOL. 124, NO. 194
The ground shook in Kansas in
2015 with 166 different quakes.
The USGS National Earthquake
Information Center reports of the
total 166 quakes in Kansas, two of
those quakes were a magnitude 4 or
above and 54 quakes were between
magnitude 3.0 to 3.9. The majority
of the quakes, 110 of them, were
between magnitude 2.0 to 2.9. The
largest quake was magnitude 4.1 on
June 5.
The increase in earthquakes has
led to an increase in the number of
individuals considering earthquake
insurance. Ken Selzer, commissioner of insurance, advises that
earthquake insurance coverage in
Kansas requires a separate policy or
endorsement to your regular homeowners insurance policy.
“Earthquake coverage is not a
part of a regular homeowners, renters or condominium insurance policy,” Selzer said. “If your insurance
company offers it — and many do
— coverage can be added by including an endorsement to your policy
or by purchasing a separate earthquake policy.”
Selzer says there will be an extra premium. Rather than a dollar
amount, the deductible for that premium will probably be a percentage
of the cost of rebuilding the home.
There could also be a separate deductible for the home’s contents.
“The type of home construction
could also determine the insurability of the structure as well,” Commissioner Selzer said. “Wood-frame
homes often withstand earthquakes
better than brick or stone structures, and their rates may be less
it was the chocolate strawberries
which were the most popular treat.
“I haven’t had a chance to do
final counts yet but I think we’ll
have sold over 6,000 berries,”
Redeker said. “We had to make a
couple of emergency runs because
we were running out of strawberries to dip.”
Amanda Goering was one of
the employees working during the
night shift, and said the demand
for strawberries was fast and furious.
“We had strawberries being
sold almost as fast as we could
make them,” Goering said. “And
there were only two of us, so it was
kind of chaotic, but in a good way.”
The berries, like the rest of the
chocolate at the Sweet Granada,
are made in-house and Redeker
said the staff began preparing
them a week in advance.
“We check all the berries for
quality and sort them by size,”
Please see Sweet, Page 8
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
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