Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near West Jefferson, NC
No earthquake was likely felt in West Jefferson in the 24 hours to 9:10 am EST (14:10 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 1:25 pm EST on 8 November 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near West Jefferson
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of West Jefferson, NC, at 4:09 am EST on 28 January 2023 (09:09 UTC), 3.8 km deep. 34 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 9 km SSE of West Jefferson, North Carolina
- When
- 4:09 am EST on 28 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of West Jefferson, NC · earthquakes near West Jefferson
- North Carolina today
- every earthquake in North Carolina in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 3.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 34 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Ashe County, 14 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1074 days ago
Earthquake alerts for West Jefferson, NC
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near West Jefferson, NC. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In West Jefferson, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Jefferson, Boone, Millers Creek, Mulberry, Blowing Rock, Cricket.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.1 on 2020-08-09 — about 99,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 36.3188, -81.4702. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashe County, NC | 14 km (9 mi) | N | earthquakes near Ashe County |
| Watauga County, NC | 23 km (15 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Watauga County |
| Wilkes County, NC | 30 km (19 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Wilkes County |
| Alleghany County, NC | 36 km (22 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Alleghany County |
| Johnson County, TN | 38 km (24 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Johnson County |
| Caldwell County, NC | 39 km (24 mi) | S | earthquakes near Caldwell County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
11 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 3 km WNW of Thurmond, North Carolina
- 2.2 9 km ESE of Independence, Virginia
- 2.2 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.2 16 km E of Jefferson, North Carolina
- 2.0 8 km S of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.2 7 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.2 13 km NNW of Cedar Rock, North Carolina
- 2.2 6 km SSE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.1 1 km ESE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.3 5 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina
- 2.3 2 km E 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.