2.6-magnitude earthquake hits western part of Nacogdoches County

NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - A 2.6-magnitude earthquake rattled residents of western Nacogdoches County Wednesday morning.

“Today, shortly before 10:00 am, the Nacogdoches Consolidated Communications Center received several calls from the Alazan-Lake Nacogdoches area in reference to a loud boom that shook buildings,” a post on the Nacogdoches County Emergency Management Office Facebook page stated. “Deputies responded to the area and could not locate any damage or the location of an emergency.”

After the calls came in, someone from the Nacogdoches County Emergency Management Office contacted the United States Geological Survey (USGS) headquarters. At 12:12 p.m., the USGS confirmed that a 2.6 magnitude earthquake occurred in the western part of Nacogdoches County at 9:51 a.m. Wednesday.

The earthquake left some wondering if a car had hit their home.

“We were sitting inside watching tv and the whole house shook, it felt like a truck had hit the house, so we jumped up and ran outside to see what had happened.” said Nacogdoches County resident Beth Packard.

Brad Randall and other workers at the Nacogdoches Water Treatment Plant also felt and heard the quake.

“We ran outside and everything thinking it was our AC going bad or something,” Randall said.

Randall said they walked around to make sure no damage was done and also reviewed camera footage which they said showed water movement recorded at the time of the quake.

“We just stepped outside to see, thinking it was something else you know, we didn’t know at the moment it was actually an earthquake,” said Jose Mejia.

Officer Brandon Hayworth, is the Lake Patrol Officer with the Nacogdoches Police Department. He called the event abnormal, not just because of where it happened.

“I’ve actually been through quite a few earthquakes over the years, some in Alaska, some in California, so I know what an earthquake feels like,this didn’t feel like an earthquake, it was just one sudden shock and that was it,” he said.

It was an experience that definitely got county residents talking.

The USGS reported that the earthquake occurred about 6 kilometers west of Nacogdoches.

No injuries or damage have been recorded, according to the Facebook post.

For more information, go to the USGS earthquake information page.

Copyright 2021 KTRE. All rights reserved.