Like a Plague of Locusts: Incredible Radar Images Show Millions of Birds & Bugs Taking Flight During Oklahoma Earthquake

Photo Credits: NOAA/The Daily Mail

Incredible radar images show the exact moment Saturday's 5.6 earthquake struck central Oklahoma, causing literally millions of insects and birds to take flight!

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration released the shocking radar images today, which highlight the changing air patterns at the precise moment the temblor struck in the late-evening hours on Saturday. The wing movement of vast amounts of insects and birds was immediately picked up by local Doppler Radar, which is often used to detect wind rotation or tornadoes embedded in thunderstorms. 


The radar image in the moments before the earthquake was calm and still, but as soon as the earth started to pitch and shake, a shift caused by a simultaneous movement of birds and insects flying  in low altitude was detected. The earthquake was the strongest in history to strike Oklahoma, and caused buildings to crumble and stretches of highway to buckle from its force. 


Scientists are studying the data to see if the creatures took flight slightly before or after the shaking began. Experts have long thought that animals can detect movements in tectonic plates before a quake strikes, exhibiting odd or unnatural behavior in the moments leading up to an earthquake.

Large Earthquake Causes Buildings to Crumble & Roads to Buckle in Oklahoma

Oklahoma was rocked by one of the largest earthquakes ever to hit the state last night. The 5.6 temblor shook the central part of the state, causing damage and at least one injury. Authorities say that the earthquake caused at least three sections of U.S. Route 62 to buckle, leaving portions of the road closed this morning. Chimneys collapsed into the roofs of homes. Damages are being reported at a library in Prague and a large boulder was shaken from its position and rolled onto a roadway. The quake was felt as far away as parts of Northern Texas as well as Missouri.

In Broken Arrow, residents say that the ground shook for as long as one minute, sending people outside into the dark of night fearing their homes might collapse. The 5.6 tremor came after nearly forty smaller tremors were recorded in an earthquake swarm that began early on Saturday. A full inspection of bridges and overpasses is expected to begin today to check for any damages to important infrastructure.


Before last night's temblor, the strongest quake previously reported was of magnitude 5.5 on April 9, 1952, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.