QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Virginia-North Carolina border region

· 6.5 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alleghany County 3 kmGrayson County 20 kmWilkes County 30 kmGalax city 30 kmAshe County 31 kmSurry County 42 kmCarroll County 48 kmWythe County 48 kmSmyth County 53 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 1.7 (md)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
678 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Alleghany County, 3 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2172 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded at Virginia-North Carolina border region at 15:58 UTC on 2020-08-09. 678 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sparta, Thurmond, Hays, Mulberry, Galax, Jefferson.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.1 on 2020-08-09 — about 120,000 times the energy of this one.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 36.4748, -81.1537. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alleghany County, NC 3 km (2 mi) NE earthquakes near Alleghany County
Grayson County, VA 20 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near Grayson County
Wilkes County, NC 30 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Wilkes County
Galax city, VA 30 km (19 mi) NE earthquakes near Galax city
Ashe County, NC 31 km (19 mi) W earthquakes near Ashe County
Surry County, NC 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near Surry County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  2. 2.1 1 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  3. 2.3 5 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  4. 2.3 2 km E of Sparta, North Carolina
  5. 1.5 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  6. 2.3 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  7. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  8. 2.7 5 km S of Hillsville, Virginia
  9. 1.8 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, North Carolina
  10. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  11. 2.1 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  12. 1.9 2 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
  13. 2.0 8 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  14. 1.8 4 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  15. 1.6 7 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.