QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 5.1mw

4 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina

· 4.1 km deep · released about 670 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alleghany County 4 kmGrayson County 23 kmGalax city 26 kmWilkes County 30 kmSurry County 36 kmAshe County 37 kmCarroll County 43 kmWythe County 47 kmYadkin County 52 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 5.1 (mw)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
66721 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
Measured shaking
intensity VII (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
yellow
Nearest
Alleghany County, 4 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 105 days ago

This was a moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. 66721 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 670 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 5.1 about 670 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1,400× more

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 36.4743, -81.0865. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Alleghany County, NC 4 km (3 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Alleghany County
Grayson County, VA 23 km (14 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Grayson County
Galax city, VA 26 km (16 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Galax city
Wilkes County, NC 30 km (19 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Wilkes County
Surry County, NC 36 km (23 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

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

  1. 2.1 1 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
  2. 2.3 5 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
  3. 2.3 2 km E of Sparta, North Carolina
  4. 1.5 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  5. 2.3 8 km W of Lowgap, North Carolina
  6. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  7. 2.7 5 km S of Hillsville, Virginia
  8. 1.8 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, North Carolina
  9. 2.6 Virginia-North Carolina border region
  10. 2.1 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  11. 1.9 2 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
  12. 2.0 8 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  13. 1.8 4 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  14. 1.6 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
  15. 1.6 10 km NNW of Hays, 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.