Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Hays, NC
No earthquake was likely felt in Hays in the 24 hours to 10:00 pm EST (03:00 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 22 km (14 mi) N, at 12:15 pm EST on 13 February 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 21 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hays
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) north-northwest of Hays, NC, at 12:34 am EDT on 21 June 2021 (04:34 UTC), 1.5 km deep.
USGS: 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
- When
- 12:34 am EDT on 21 June 2021 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) north-northwest of Hays, NC · earthquakes near Hays
- North Carolina today
- every earthquake in North Carolina in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 1.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Wilkes County, 14 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1970 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hays, NC
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Hays, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mulberry, Fairplains, Millers Creek, Cricket, Sparta, North Wilkesboro.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 since 2016 was M 5.1 on 2020-08-09 — about 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 36.3373, -81.1648. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkes County, NC | 14 km (9 mi) | S | earthquakes near Wilkes County |
| Alleghany County, NC | 17 km (11 mi) | N | earthquakes near Alleghany County |
| Ashe County, NC | 32 km (20 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ashe County |
| Grayson County, VA | 35 km (22 mi) | N | earthquakes near Grayson County |
| Galax city, VA | 43 km (27 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Galax city |
| Surry County, NC | 44 km (27 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Surry County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
22 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 3 km WNW of Thurmond, North Carolina
- 2.2 9 km ESE of Independence, Virginia
- 2.2 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.1 4 km WSW of Lowgap, North Carolina
- 2.2 16 km E of Jefferson, North Carolina
- 2.0 8 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.2 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.2 13 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
- 2.2 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.1 1 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.3 5 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.3 2 km E of Sparta, North Carolina
- 1.5 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
- 2.3 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
- 1.8 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.