Texas News

Residents recount waking up to strongest recorded Texas Panhandle earthquake

Two Pampa residents are sharing what it was like to wake up to the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the Texas Panhandle. The earthquake struck at about 5:21 a.m. Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS measured the quake at magnitude 5.0 and said it was the strongest earthquake recorded in the Texas Panhandle. Pampa resident Catherine Noorderbos said she woke to a loud noise and her bed vibrating before realizing what was happening. I was sound asleep. I was jolted awake by a loud noise and shaking,” Noorderbos said. “My husband woke up immediately and said, ‘I think we’re having an earthquake.’ Then he asked me how to spell seismic.” Another Pampa resident, Stephanie Cruz, was working out in her garage with a friend when she noticed mirrors shaking and items shifting on top of a refrigerator. “I put on Facebook, ‘Was that an earthquake?’ Within one minute I had 20 comments. Everyone was saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’” Cruz said. Residents across the Texas Panhandle and into southern New Mexico and Oklahoma reported feeling the earthquake. There were no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage, according to the Dallas Morning News, but residents described feeling shocked…