QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina

· 4.3 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alleghany County 5 kmGrayson County 24 kmGalax city 27 kmWilkes County 29 kmSurry County 36 kmAshe County 37 kmCarroll County 44 kmWythe County 49 kmYadkin County 50 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
4.3 km below the surface
Felt
15 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Alleghany County, 5 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1584 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 15 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 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 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 36.4595, -81.0837. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Alleghany County, NC 5 km (3 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Alleghany County
Grayson County, VA 24 km (15 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Grayson County
Galax city, VA 27 km (17 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Galax city
Wilkes County, NC 29 km (18 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Wilkes County
Surry County, NC 36 km (22 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

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

  1. 1.9 3 km WNW of Thurmond, North Carolina
  2. 2.2 9 km ESE of Independence, Virginia
  3. 2.2 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  4. 2.1 4 km WSW of Lowgap, North Carolina
  5. 2.2 16 km E of Jefferson, North Carolina
  6. 2.0 8 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
  7. 2.2 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  8. 2.2 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  9. 2.1 1 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  10. 2.3 5 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  11. 2.3 2 km E of Sparta, North Carolina
  12. 1.5 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  13. 2.3 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  14. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  15. 2.7 5 km S of Hillsville, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.1 on 2020-08-09 — it released about 36,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.