QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina

· 5.4 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N McDowell County 14 kmYancey County 20 kmMitchell County 30 kmBuncombe County 35 kmBurke County 43 kmAvery County 44 kmRutherford County 44 kmUnicoi County 45 kmMadison 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 1.8 (md)
Depth
5.4 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
McDowell County, 14 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 409 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 35.7413, -82.1805. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
McDowell County, NC 14 km (8 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near McDowell County
Yancey County, NC 20 km (12 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Yancey County
Mitchell County, NC 30 km (19 mi) S of here earthquakes near Mitchell County
Buncombe County, NC 35 km (22 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Buncombe County
Burke County, NC 43 km (27 mi) W of here earthquakes near Burke County
Avery County, NC 44 km (27 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Avery County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  2. 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  3. 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, North Carolina
  4. 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 4 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  6. 2.1 3 km NW of Marion, North Carolina
  7. 2.2 3 km NNW of Marion, North Carolina
  8. 2.1 7 km NW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  9. 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
  10. 2.7 7 km N of Columbus, 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.