Read more: Local, Vega, Vega Earthquake, Earthquake, Panhandle Earthquake, US Geological Survey, Richter Scale
VEGA, TEXAS -- A Vega teacher woke suddenly to a rumbling sound. Jaylene Parsley is a teacher and bus driver for Vega ISD. She says she was dozing in and out when she heard a boom. "I remember hearing a boom and I thought what was that and the house went tremble."
The USGS says earthquakes are pretty uncommon for the Texas Panhandle.
Kathie Bryant with Vega ISD described her experience. "I heard kind of an explosion or a pop,but it was local then my patio furniture started shaking," said Bryant.
Vega's Mayor Jay Newton said First thought was a sonic boom is what it sounded like,kind of like thunder and then I felt a small shake but it was enough to get my attention.
Luckily no was hurt and no damages were reported in Thursday's quake.
This recent earthquake begs the question how often do quakes happen in our area? Here's a look back. The first recorded quake was back in march of 1917, some damage was reported but nothing major. In 1936 a quake was recorded near Gruver and White Deer. In 1948 another shock causing damage in the northern Panhandle followed by another in 1951. A 4.8 quake was felt near Borger in 1966 that was felt in downtown Amarillo. In 1974 a 4.5 shocker caused damage in Darrouzett and Perryton.
If you live in or near Vega then you may have felt a little rumbling Thursday morning. The US Geological Survey recorded a earthquake 12 miles north north east of Vega. According to the USGS the quake measured 3.8 on the Richter scale. We have a crew headed that way. Stay tuned to Pronews 7 and be sure to check back here at connectamarillo.com for an update.
