QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

3 km ESE of Catawba, North Carolina

· 0.1 km deep · released about 29 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Catawba County 16 kmIredell County 20 kmLincoln County 28 kmAlexander County 29 kmGaston County 46 kmRowan County 47 kmDavie County 52 kmMecklenburg County 53 kmCaldwell 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 2.0 (md)
Depth
0.1 km below the surface
Felt
22 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Catawba County, 16 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1526 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 22 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 35.6890, -81.0387. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Catawba County, NC 16 km (10 mi) E of here earthquakes near Catawba County
Iredell County, NC 20 km (12 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Iredell County
Lincoln County, NC 28 km (17 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Lincoln County
Alexander County, NC 29 km (18 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Alexander County
Gaston County, NC 46 km (28 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Gaston County
Rowan County, NC 47 km (29 mi) W of here earthquakes near Rowan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3 km SE of Troutman, North Carolina
  2. 1.8 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.