There Are Earthquakes In The Texas Panhandle? Why You Shouldn’t Be Surprised.

News came out earlier this week about an earthquake that rocked the Texas panhandle. The quake took place near Lubbock but was felt by many as far north as Amarillo. It was a magnitude 4.9 and it tied for the 8th strongest earthquake in Texas history, according to news reports coming out of Lubbock. It has a lot of people asking, once again, how common are earthquakes in the Texas panhandle?

Earthquakes Are More Common In The Panhandle Than You Think.

I moved to Amarillo, Texas in 2017. Since then, there have been several times I've woken up to the news that there has been an earthquake. None of them have been a 4.9, though. The closest we got recently was in Pampa. In 2021 there was a 4.3 magnitude quake that shook the region.

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The earthquakes in the Texas panhandle are more common than you'd think, and most of them aren't much of anything to really worry about. The big reason why is that there is actually a fault line running through the panhandle.

The Fault Line Running Through The Texas Panhandle

There are "subterranean fault lines" that run through the Texas panhandle, according to the information available on the National Weather Service website. These fault lines run from just north of Amarillo all the way to southwestern Oklahoma. There have been numerous earthquakes since they started being recorded.

The biggest quake to hit the region was a 5.4-magnitude earthquake in 1925. Fortunately, these are rare and seem to only take place every 100 years. An earthquake greater than 6.0 is thought to take place once every 300 years. For some reason, I find that reassuring.

The next time you feel the ground shake, just know that's how we roll in the Texas panhandle.