Earthquakes in North Carolina
Typical QuakeIndex 53 / 100
1 quake of M1.5 or larger in the last 7 days in North Carolina. Normal for here is 1 to 3 in a week.
Compared against North Carolina's own 10 years · USGS catalogue · updated
The last 30 days
Live · last 7 days
Latest earthquakes in North Carolina
None in North Carolina in the latest snapshot we hold; the full 7 days load from USGS as this page opens.
Source USGS · snapshot of
Where this is
Centre 35.447, -79.322 — the mean of this state’s place centroids, from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Activity is measured across a rectangle drawn around the state, so a few earthquakes just over its border are counted too.
Largest on record in and around North Carolina
| Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| M 5.1 | 4 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina | |
| M 4.1 | 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee | |
| M 3.8 | 2 km NE of Fincastle, Tennessee | |
| M 3.6 | 6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina | |
| M 3.5 | 6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina | |
| M 3.4 | 6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina | |
| M 3.4 | 7 km NE of Maynardville, Tennessee | |
| M 3.3 | 5 km SSW of Lugoff, South Carolina |
From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service · inside a rectangle drawn around North Carolina, which takes in some ground over its borders.
Counties in North Carolina
- Alamance County
- Alexander County
- Alleghany County
- Anson County
- Ashe County
- Avery County
- Beaufort County
- Bertie County
- Bladen County
- Brunswick County
- Buncombe County
- Burke County
- Cabarrus County
- Caldwell County
- Camden County
- Carteret County
- Caswell County
- Catawba County
- Chatham County
- Cherokee County
- Chowan County
- Clay County
- Cleveland County
- Columbus County
- Craven County
- Cumberland County
- Currituck County
- Dare County
- Davidson County
- Davie County
- Duplin County
- Durham County
- Edgecombe County
- Forsyth County
- Franklin County
- Gaston County
- Gates County
- Graham County
- Granville County
- Greene County
- Guilford County
- Halifax County
- Harnett County
- Haywood County
- Henderson County
- Hertford County
- Hoke County
- Hyde County
- Iredell County
- Jackson County
- Johnston County
- Jones County
- Lee County
- Lenoir County
- Lincoln County
- Macon County
- Madison County
- Martin County
- McDowell County
- Mecklenburg County
- Mitchell County
- Montgomery County
- Moore County
- Nash County
- New Hanover County
- Northampton County
- Onslow County
- Orange County
- Pamlico County
- Pasquotank County
- Pender County
- Perquimans County
- Person County
- Pitt County
- Polk County
- Randolph County
- Richmond County
- Robeson County
- Rockingham County
- Rowan County
- Rutherford County
- Sampson County
- Scotland County
- Stanly County
- Stokes County
- Surry County
- Swain County
- Transylvania County
- Tyrrell County
- Union County
- Vance County
- Wake County
- Warren County
- Washington County
- Watauga County
- Wayne County
- Wilkes County
- Wilson County
- Yadkin County
- Yancey County
After an earthquake here
- Report what you felt to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us, and they are what produces the intensity maps
- What to do during and after an earthquake
- QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For early warning, ShakeAlert reaches phones through Wireless Emergency Alerts and the MyShake app