[6] The quake's epicenter was approximately 44 miles (71 km) east-northeast of Oklahoma City, near the town of Sparks and was felt in the neighboring states of Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri and even as far away as Tennessee and Wisconsin.

"[11]: 2 The Oklahoma Geological Survey believes the earthquake occurred along the Wilzetta Fault, which is also known as the Seminole Uplift.

[13] In November 2011 several geologists with the USGS that were contacted by The Huffington Post said that the 5.6 magnitude quake was not due to the mechanical process of hydraulic fracturing itself, which they said causes tremors on a much smaller scale.

[14] According to the 2016 USGS report, "Earthquake rates have recently increased markedly in multiple areas of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), especially since 2010, and scientific studies have linked the majority of this increased activity to wastewater injection in deep disposal wells.

"[10][11]: 2 [15][16][17][18] In March 2013, an article published in the scientific journal Geology observed that "the volume of fluid injected into the subsurface related to the production of unconventional resources continues to rise" and this potentially triggered the earthquake.

[10] An issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research published in March 2014 found that a magnitude 5.0 foreshock believed to be induced by fluid injection promoted failure of the rupture plain of the November 5 mainshock.