QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

6 km N of Morganton, North Carolina

· 5.6 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Burke County 7 kmCaldwell County 24 kmMcDowell County 36 kmAvery County 37 kmCatawba County 45 kmAlexander County 48 kmWatauga County 48 kmMitchell County 49 kmRutherford County 49 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 2.6 (md)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
1161 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Burke County, 7 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 491 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1161 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 53,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 38,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 35.8048, -81.6848. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Burke County, NC 7 km (4 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Burke County
Caldwell County, NC 24 km (15 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Caldwell County
McDowell County, NC 36 km (22 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near McDowell County
Avery County, NC 37 km (23 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Avery County
Catawba County, NC 45 km (28 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Catawba County
Alexander County, NC 48 km (30 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Alexander County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
  2. 2.1 3 km NW of Marion, North Carolina
  3. 2.2 3 km NNW of Marion, North Carolina
  4. 2.2 13 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
  5. 1.8 12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina
  6. 2.0 7 km N of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  7. 2.1 5 km NNE of Blowing Rock, North Carolina
  8. 1.8 9 km E of Bakersville, 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.