Jones Home Destroyed By Earthquakes

A homeowner in Jones is living out of a hotel after his home was destroyed by earthquakes. His insurance company recently declared the house a total loss.

Mickey Nixon spent years building the rural Jones home to withstand a tornado.  It has 8½ inch concrete walls and steel beams all interconnected. However, that's exactly the problem when it comes to earthquakes.

“I built it to protect my family from tornadoes,” explained Nixon. “I fear them like everybody else but I didn’t want to have to run from them, I wanted to drink coffee while one was coming.  And I think this house fit the bill for a long time, I was confident living in this house.”

During this spring's rain, he noticed his house was leaking. That's when he found several cracks through the thick concrete walls. So, he called his insurance company. A structural engineer declared the house a total loss.

“The house literally was so stiff that with each earthquake, it was just sitting there breaking itself unbeknownst to me or anybody else,” Nixon.

Fortunately for Mickey, Farmers Insurance paid the claim.

“My insurance people have been really great on the whole thing,” Nixon.

Still, Mickey built this house believing it would survive whatever came down from the Oklahoma skies. Never imagining after just 14 years, it would be something underneath the ground that would eventually destroy it.

“I don’t think you could ever get it any more life. I think it’s over.”

Mickey says the whole house will probably be torn down within the month.

This is believed to be the first insurance claim paid out for a total loss on a home due to Oklahoma earthquakes.