QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

1 km ENE of Barker Heights, North Carolina

· 8.5 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Henderson County 5 kmPolk County 24 kmBuncombe County 34 kmTransylvania County 37 kmRutherford County 47 kmGreenville County 47 kmMcDowell County 53 kmPickens County 55 kmHaywood County 57 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
8.5 km below the surface
Felt
6 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Henderson County, 5 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1485 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 6 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 35.3158, -82.4277. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Henderson County, NC 5 km (3 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Henderson County
Polk County, NC 24 km (15 mi) W of here earthquakes near Polk County
Buncombe County, NC 34 km (21 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Buncombe County
Transylvania County, NC 37 km (23 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Transylvania County
Rutherford County, NC 47 km (29 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Rutherford County
Greenville County, SC 47 km (29 mi) N of here earthquakes near Greenville County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 7 km SE of Brevard, North Carolina
  2. 2.1 8 km W of Rosman, North Carolina
  3. 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  4. 2.0 7 km SSW of Canton, North Carolina
  5. 1.8 8 km W of Rosman, North Carolina
  6. 1.8 8 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  7. 2.0 7 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  8. 2.1 8 km S of West Canton, North Carolina
  9. 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  10. 1.9 7 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  11. 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, North Carolina
  12. 1.9 4 km N of West Canton, North Carolina
  13. 1.6 9 km W of Rosman, North Carolina
  14. 1.7 5 km W of Rosman, North Carolina
  15. 1.7 9 km W of Rosman, 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.