QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

15 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina

· 14 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yancey County 16 kmMcDowell County 18 kmMitchell County 27 kmBuncombe County 34 kmUnicoi County 41 kmAvery County 42 kmBurke County 45 kmMadison County 47 kmRutherford County 49 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Yancey County, 16 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3175 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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.

Where

Epicentre 35.7700, -82.2093. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Yancey County, NC 16 km (10 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Yancey County
McDowell County, NC 18 km (11 mi) NW of here earthquakes near McDowell County
Mitchell County, NC 27 km (17 mi) S of here earthquakes near Mitchell County
Buncombe County, NC 34 km (21 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Buncombe County
Unicoi County, TN 41 km (26 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Unicoi County
Avery County, NC 42 km (26 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Avery County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

25 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  2. 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  3. 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, North Carolina
  4. 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 4 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  6. 2.1 3 km NW of Marion, North Carolina
  7. 2.2 3 km NNW of Marion, North Carolina
  8. 2.1 7 km NW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  9. 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
  10. 1.8 12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina
  11. 2.0 7 km N of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  12. 1.8 5 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  13. 1.9 5 km N of Weaverville, North Carolina
  14. 1.8 9 km E of Bakersville, North Carolina
  15. 2.1 5 km SE of Gerton, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.