4 Uncommon But Possible Natural Disasters That Occur in Texas
We're no stranger to some awful weather in Texas; we've experienced floods, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, & of course because we're in Tornado Alley, we've seen a lot of tornados (some have been very deadly) in the state's history.
But those aren't the only natural disasters Texas can experience. Here are 4 that Texas has had in the past; and possibly again in the future:
1. Earthquakes: Normally when you think of areas that have earthquakes, California or Japan are the most common places where they occur. But believe it or not, earthquakes are surprisingly common in Texas. According to the University of Texas at Austin, there are 2 main regions that experience earthquakes: one near the Panhandle & one near El Paso. Usually the ones that occur, are too small to notice. But they have & still do occur.
While most are too small to notice, we DO occasionally get ones that range around 5-6 on the Richter Scale (the measurement scientists use to measure how powerful earthquakes are), and sometimes up to a magnitude 7 in Northeast Texas. El Paso even experienced a 4.6 earthquake back in 1923, and Valentine experiencing a 6.0 in 1931. We haven't experienced anything that big recently but it HAS happened before...
2. Tsunamis: While we're talking about earthquakes, tsunamis are rare but they are a possibility to happen in Texas. We've experienced a "seiche" back in 1964, meaning the waves caused by an earthquake, however these waves were very small. However with earthquakes that occur in the Caribbean, Texas A&M Galveston says that a tsunami in close proximity to Texas could be possible.
3. Blizzards/Winter storms: Texas is normally a very warm state but we definitely know that we DO occasionally get BAD winter storms. The worst being the deep freeze we had in 2021. But we've had other major snow storms in the past; it's not a yearly event but when it happens, it's big news.
4. Meteor Strikes: Ever since the dawn of time, Texas has seen objects fall from outer space strike our state. In fact, it's possible that we experienced a MASSIVE tidal wave 65 million years ago with remnants found in present day Waco. We've had other meteor strikes in Texas; the most famous crater is the one found in Odessa.
We've seen other things light up the night; like the fireball spotted in July of this year.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, we don't normally experience these in normal everyday life. But those rare instances... it has happen & they might happen again.