Earthquake Shakes The Texas Panhandle Just Outside Of Amarillo

Tornadoes, severe weather, and the occasional blizzard. These are weather events we're used to either seeing or hearing about in the Texas Panhandle. When they roll through, we don't blink twice.

It's rare as all get out for us to get a weather event or natural disaster event outside of those. Think about the flooding we just went through, that doesn't happen every year in Amarillo.

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Well, it's time for rarity to take a front seat, because something happened that wasn't on my bingo card for 2023. An earthquake shook the area just 10 miles outside of Amarillo proper.

That's right, an earthquake in the panhandle. I never thought I'd see the day. Now, it's very likely you didn't feel the quake itself. It's magnitude checked in at 3.4, and you apparently can feel it if you're close to the epicenter of the quake when it reaches 3.0 or above.

So where would this quake have been felt? Get ready for the ironic part, it was essentially next to Pantex, and that has stirred up all sorts of conversation.

There have been a lot of people wondering if Pantex detonated something in the area that cause the earthquake, and while anything is possible, I'd say it's unlikely that something like that happened. I mean, we would've noticed it if they'd set something off, right?

The more likely answer is that there is a small fault line in the area and well, it just did what it does and shook the earth a bit. Regardless, let's hope this isn't something new we need to be on the lookout for in the 806, because I am NOT ready for an earthquake.