South Texas Residents Thought They Felt An Earthquake, It Was 1,000 lb. Meteor

People in South Texas thought the shaking they felt Wednesday night was an earthquake but found out later it was a 1,000 lb. meteor crashing to the ground just west of McAllen.

NASA confirmed officially that the loud explosion heard and felt in South Texas was actually a half-ton meteor that crashed to Earth at approximately 5:23 pm on the evening of February 15, 2023.

According to NASA, the meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of about 27,000 miles per hour, broke apart about 21 miles from the ground, and hit the ground with the energy of about 8 tons of TNT.

"Based on analysis of preliminary information from several sources, NASA experts believe the object was a meteoroid about two feet in diameter weighing about 1,000 pounds," NASA wrote in a press release. "The angle and speed of entry, along with signatures in weather radar imagery, are consistent with other naturally occurring meteorite falls. Radar and other data  indicate that meteorites did reach the ground from this event."

Houston Air Traffic Control said two aircraft reported spotting the meteorite hitting the ground west of McAllen but no reports of damage were reported.

Here are a couple of posts on social media from a resident close to the area of impact with video and audio:

Another meteor lit up the night sky around Houston last month with reports of the meteor being reported from Louisiana to Oklahoma.