Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Burnsville, NC
USGS: 7 km WNW of Burnsville, North Carolina
44 km (27 mi) NNE of Asheville, NC · 141 km (88 mi) E of Knoxville, TN
- When
- 10:58 pm EDT on 21 March 2016 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) WNW of Burnsville, NC · earthquakes near Burnsville
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yancey County, 9 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3847 days ago
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) WNW of Burnsville, NC, at 10:58 pm EDT on 21 March 2016 (02:58 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mars Hill, Banner Hill, Erwin, Spruce Pine, Unicoi.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 Near Asheville, North Carolina · 50 km SSW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 35.9380, -82.3785. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yancey County, NC | 9 km (5 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Yancey County |
| Unicoi County, TN | 18 km (11 mi) | N | earthquakes near Unicoi County |
| Mitchell County, NC | 21 km (13 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Mitchell County |
| Madison County, NC | 31 km (19 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Buncombe County, NC | 39 km (24 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Buncombe County |
| Washington County, TN | 41 km (26 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Washington County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
- 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
- 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, North Carolina
- 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
- 2.1 4 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
- 2.1 3 km NW of Marion, North Carolina
- 2.2 3 km NNW of Marion, North Carolina
- 2.1 7 km NW of Weaverville, North Carolina
- 2.3 2 km ENE of Greeneville, Tennessee
- 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
- 2.2 8 km WNW of Roan Mountain, Tennessee
- 1.8 12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina
- 2.0 7 km N of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
- 1.8 5 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
- 1.9 5 km N of Weaverville, North Carolina
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.