Minor Quake Hits Texas Panhandle
By: Allison Morrison
Updated: October 14, 2008
The Texas Panhandle was hit by a minor earthquake last night. It hit just after 9 p.m. Monday, between Pampa and Canadian, in Hemphill County. It measured 3.8 on the Richter Scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The largest quake recorded in Texas was a 5.8, that was back in 1931.
Texas Tech Geosciences Professor Hua-wei Zhou says it could be a decade before we see another earthquake in the Panhandle.
"The best part of that is these kind of events don't occur often at all, so very rare to have those. It's exciting, but not something to worry about," Zhou says.
Zhou says California has about 15,000 earthquakes each year, at or above the magnitude of last night's quake in the Panhandle.
