QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

2 km NNE of Elk Park, North Carolina

· 7.8 km deep · released about 26 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Avery County 12 kmCarter County 19 kmWatauga County 24 kmMitchell County 25 kmJohnson County 32 kmUnicoi County 41 kmYancey County 44 kmCaldwell County 47 kmSullivan County 48 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 2.0 (md)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Avery County, 12 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2903 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 26 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 580,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 36× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 26 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 36.1770, -81.9668. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Avery County, NC 12 km (8 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Avery County
Carter County, TN 19 km (12 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Carter County
Watauga County, NC 24 km (15 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Watauga County
Mitchell County, NC 25 km (16 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Mitchell County
Johnson County, TN 32 km (20 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Johnson County
Unicoi County, TN 41 km (26 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Unicoi County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
  2. 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
  3. 2.2 13 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
  4. 2.2 8 km WNW of Roan Mountain, Tennessee
  5. 1.8 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, North Carolina
  6. 2.0 7 km N of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  7. 2.1 5 km NNE of Blowing Rock, North Carolina
  8. 1.8 9 km E of Bakersville, North Carolina
  9. 2.2 8 km ENE of Mountain City, Tennessee
  10. 2.6 6 km N of Morganton, North Carolina
  11. 1.6 7 km SSW of Banner Hill, Tennessee
  12. 2.4 9 km SSW of Banner Hill, Tennessee
  13. 2.8 8 km SW of Banner Hill, Tennessee
  14. 2.0 0 km SSE of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  15. 1.6 8 km SSE of Banner Hill, Tennessee

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.