QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

2 km NE of Hays, North Carolina

· 2.1 km deep · released about 320 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wilkes County 9 kmAlleghany County 25 kmAlexander County 39 kmSurry County 41 kmAshe County 41 kmYadkin County 41 kmGrayson County 44 kmGalax city 47 kmCaldwell 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 2.7 (md)
Depth
2.1 km below the surface
Felt
178 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Wilkes County, 9 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2876 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 178 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 320 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 48,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 34,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 320 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 36.2665, -81.1010. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Wilkes County, NC 9 km (5 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Wilkes County
Alleghany County, NC 25 km (15 mi) S of here earthquakes near Alleghany County
Alexander County, NC 39 km (24 mi) N of here earthquakes near Alexander County
Surry County, NC 41 km (25 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Surry County
Ashe County, NC 41 km (25 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Ashe County
Yadkin County, NC 41 km (25 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Yadkin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  2. 1.8 10 km NNW of Hays, North Carolina
  3. 2.3 9 km N of Independence, Virginia
  4. 2.0 9 km N of Independence, Virginia
  5. 1.9 3 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  6. 1.9 5 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  7. 2.3 6 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  8. 1.7 2 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  9. 2.0 5 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  10. 1.5 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  11. 2.2 4 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  12. 1.8 6 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  13. 2.2 2 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
  14. 2.6 1 km SSW of Sparta, North Carolina
  15. 1.6 4 km ESE of Sparta, 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.