A gas explosion early Friday morning that destroyed three homes and damaged at least 70 others was caught on tape by a local news crew that appeared quite startled at the sudden blast.

The explosion happened right after 5:30 a.m., as Corpus Christie-based KIII-TV meteorologist Kristin Diaz was firing up a morning broadcast with anchors John Thomas and Jane Monreal.

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“It’ll be nice to be out there…” Thomas began when a loud crashing sound suddenly shook the room, causing wall fixtures to visibly shake.

“Oh, well, the studio had a bit of a ruckus,” Monreal said. “We’ll have to see what that’s about. We might be making our own news.”

Investigators said the explosion, which happened almost two miles away from KIII-TV’s studios, left three people seriously injured. A resulting fire damaged about 70 homes.

Fire investigators believe the blast was the result of a natural gas leak, but an investigation is still ongoing. It’s not clear what sparked the explosion.

This video is from KIII-TV, aired Friday, July 12, 2013.

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This video is from KZTV10 in Corpus Christie, aired July 12, 2013.