QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Mountain View, NC

USGS: 6 km ESE of Mountain View, North Carolina

66 km (41 mi) NW of Charlotte, NC · 45 km (28 mi) W of Mooresville, NC

9:12 pm EDT, Jun 12, 2018 · · 0.2 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Catawba County 9 kmLincoln County 20 kmAlexander County 32 kmBurke County 37 kmCaldwell County 39 kmCleveland County 42 kmGaston County 42 kmIredell County 43 kmRutherford County 62 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
9:12 pm EDT on 12 June 2018 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) ESE of Mountain View, NC · earthquakes near Mountain View
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Catawba County, 9 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3034 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) ESE of Mountain View, NC, at 9:12 pm EDT on 12 June 2018 (01:12 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Newton, Hickory, Conover, Longview, Hildebran, Maiden.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 35.6540, -81.3130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Catawba County, NC 9 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Catawba County
Lincoln County, NC 20 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lincoln County
Alexander County, NC 32 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Alexander County
Burke County, NC 37 km (23 mi) WNW earthquakes near Burke County
Caldwell County, NC 39 km (24 mi) NNW earthquakes near Caldwell County
Cleveland County, NC 42 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cleveland County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 13 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
  2. 1.8 3 km SE of Troutman, North Carolina
  3. 1.8 North Carolina
  4. 2.0 3 km ESE of Catawba, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 3 km ESE of Catawba, North Carolina
  6. 2.6 6 km N of Morganton, North Carolina
  7. 2.0 5 km W of Statesville, North Carolina
  8. 1.6 2 km N of Catawba, North Carolina
  9. 1.7 6 km ESE of Mountain View, North Carolina
  10. 2.1 12 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
  11. 2.4 7 km WSW of Newton, North Carolina
  12. 1.6 3 km SSE of Brookford, North Carolina
  13. 1.9 5 km ESE of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
  14. 2.4 14 km NNW of Cedar Rock, 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.