QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

12 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina

· 4.8 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Caldwell County 9 kmWatauga County 27 kmAlexander County 34 kmAvery County 36 kmWilkes County 37 kmBurke County 37 kmAshe County 44 kmCatawba County 51 kmJohnson County 54 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Caldwell County, 9 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2509 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 36.0458, -81.5258. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Caldwell County, NC 9 km (6 mi) N of here earthquakes near Caldwell County
Watauga County, NC 27 km (17 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Watauga County
Alexander County, NC 34 km (21 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Alexander County
Avery County, NC 36 km (22 mi) E of here earthquakes near Avery County
Wilkes County, NC 37 km (23 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Wilkes County
Burke County, NC 37 km (23 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Burke County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, North Carolina
  2. 2.1 5 km NNE of Blowing Rock, North Carolina
  3. 1.8 9 km E of Bakersville, North Carolina
  4. 2.6 6 km N of Morganton, North Carolina
  5. 1.6 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  6. 1.8 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  7. 2.0 3 km WSW of Millers Creek, North Carolina
  8. 1.9 9 km NNW of Millers Creek, North Carolina
  9. 1.7 6 km ESE of Mountain View, 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.