QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

2 km SW of Elk Park, NC

42 km (26 mi) ESE of Johnson City, TN · 148 km (92 mi) NW of Charlotte, NC

· 8.1 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Avery County 11 kmCarter County 20 kmWatauga County 24 kmMitchell County 25 kmJohnson County 33 kmUnicoi County 42 kmYancey County 44 kmCaldwell County 46 kmSullivan 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 1.9 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Avery County, 11 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3006 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 2 km SW of Elk Park, NC at 06:20 UTC on 2018-07-11. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Banner Elk, Roan Mountain, Foscoe, Blowing Rock, Boone, Hunter.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 730,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 520,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 46× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 36.1683, -81.9617. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Avery County, NC 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Avery County
Carter County, TN 20 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Carter County
Watauga County, NC 24 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Watauga County
Mitchell County, NC 25 km (16 mi) SW earthquakes near Mitchell County
Johnson County, TN 33 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Johnson County
Unicoi County, TN 42 km (26 mi) W earthquakes near Unicoi County

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

Aftershocks so far

19 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

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