QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

9 km NNW of Millers Creek, North Carolina

· 5.8 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wilkes County 12 kmAshe County 28 kmAlleghany County 29 kmWatauga County 38 kmCaldwell County 39 kmAlexander County 39 kmGrayson County 44 kmGalax city 56 kmJohnson County 56 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
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Nearest
Wilkes County, 12 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2386 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 25 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 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 36.2633, -81.2852. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Wilkes County, NC 12 km (8 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Wilkes County
Ashe County, NC 28 km (17 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Ashe County
Alleghany County, NC 29 km (18 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Alleghany County
Watauga County, NC 38 km (24 mi) E of here earthquakes near Watauga County
Caldwell County, NC 39 km (24 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Caldwell County
Alexander County, NC 39 km (24 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Alexander County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  2. 1.9 2 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
  3. 2.2 8 km ENE of Mountain City, Tennessee
  4. 2.0 8 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  5. 1.8 4 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  6. 1.6 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  7. 1.6 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  8. 1.8 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  9. 1.9 3 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  10. 1.9 5 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  11. 2.3 6 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  12. 1.7 2 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  13. 2.0 5 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  14. 1.5 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  15. 2.2 4 km SSE of Sparta, 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.