QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

6 km NNW of Burnsville, North Carolina

· 1.4 km deep · released about 160 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yancey County 9 kmMitchell County 15 kmUnicoi County 17 kmMadison County 37 kmAvery County 38 kmCarter County 39 kmWashington County 39 kmMcDowell County 41 kmBuncombe County 44 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 2.5 (md)
Depth
1.4 km below the surface
Felt
18 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Yancey County, 9 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3795 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 18 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 160 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 92,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 65,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 160 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 35.9718, -82.3237. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Yancey County, NC 9 km (6 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yancey County
Mitchell County, NC 15 km (9 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Mitchell County
Unicoi County, TN 17 km (10 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Unicoi County
Madison County, NC 37 km (23 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Madison County
Avery County, NC 38 km (24 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Avery County
Carter County, TN 39 km (24 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Carter County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  2. 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  3. 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, North Carolina
  4. 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 4 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  6. 2.1 3 km NW of Marion, North Carolina
  7. 2.2 3 km NNW of Marion, North Carolina
  8. 2.1 7 km NW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  9. 2.3 2 km ENE of Greeneville, Tennessee
  10. 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
  11. 2.2 8 km WNW of Roan Mountain, Tennessee
  12. 1.8 12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina
  13. 2.0 7 km N of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  14. 1.8 5 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  15. 1.9 5 km N of Weaverville, 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.