QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

4 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina

· 4.1 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alleghany County 4 kmGrayson County 22 kmGalax city 26 kmWilkes County 31 kmSurry County 37 kmAshe County 37 kmCarroll County 43 kmWythe County 47 kmYadkin County 52 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 2.6 (md)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
462 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Alleghany County, 4 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1258 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 462 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 36.4783, -81.0890. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Alleghany County, NC 4 km (3 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Alleghany County
Grayson County, VA 22 km (14 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Grayson County
Galax city, VA 26 km (16 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Galax city
Wilkes County, NC 31 km (19 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Wilkes County
Surry County, NC 37 km (23 mi) W of here earthquakes near Surry County
Ashe County, NC 37 km (23 mi) E of here earthquakes near Ashe County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  2. 2.3 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  3. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  4. 2.7 5 km S of Hillsville, Virginia
  5. 1.8 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, North Carolina
  6. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  7. 2.1 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  8. 1.9 2 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
  9. 2.0 8 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  10. 1.8 4 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  11. 1.6 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  12. 1.6 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  13. 1.8 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  14. 2.3 9 km N of Independence, Virginia
  15. 2.0 9 km N of Independence, Virginia

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.