The earthquake’s size was considered moderate by the USGS, which advised that there’s a low likelihood of causalities and damage from it. According to the USGS, North Carolina just experienced a 5.1 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter at 2 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina. For more info click here https://t.co/cq5bMmUcJD pic.twitter.com/pzAt8tvuRPIt was still the strongest earthquake to hit North Carolina since 1916, when a 5.2 magnitude quake was reported near Skyland, North Carolina, according to the USGS. Damage to windows and chimneys were reported from that earthquake, which was also felt in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky and West Virginia, according to North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality. There are no active fault zones in North Carolina, though the state, particularly the western part, is known to experience “relatively small, random and scattered events” according to the DEQ’s website, which notes that an area known as the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone, or earthquake zone, stretches from Tennessee through the edge of western North Carolina into northern Georgia.

Source: Huffington Post August 09, 2020 14:37 UTC