QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

5 km SE of Gerton, North Carolina

· 0.1 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Henderson County 20 kmPolk County 23 kmBuncombe County 27 kmMcDowell County 35 kmRutherford County 35 kmYancey County 49 kmTransylvania County 53 kmMadison County 59 kmGreenville County 62 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
0.1 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Henderson County, 20 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1855 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 35.4458, -82.3065. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Henderson County, NC 20 km (12 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Henderson County
Polk County, NC 23 km (14 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Polk County
Buncombe County, NC 27 km (17 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Buncombe County
McDowell County, NC 35 km (22 mi) SW of here earthquakes near McDowell County
Rutherford County, NC 35 km (22 mi) W of here earthquakes near Rutherford County
Yancey County, NC 49 km (31 mi) S of here earthquakes near Yancey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 7 km SE of Brevard, North Carolina
  2. 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  3. 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  4. 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, 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. 2.7 7 km N of Columbus, North Carolina
  10. 2.2 12 km NW of Tigerville, South Carolina
  11. 1.8 7 km ENE of Brevard, North Carolina
  12. 1.8 12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina
  13. 2.1 7 km SE of Brevard, North Carolina
  14. 2.7 0 km S of Laurel Park, North Carolina
  15. 2.1 1 km ENE of Barker Heights, 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.