QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

16 km E of Cullowhee, North Carolina

· 4.8 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Jackson County 12 kmTransylvania County 19 kmHaywood County 28 kmMacon County 42 kmHenderson County 47 kmSwain County 52 kmPickens County 53 kmBuncombe County 54 kmRabun County 60 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 1.7 (md)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Jackson County, 12 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 187 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 35.3037, -82.9975. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Jackson County, NC 12 km (7 mi) E of here earthquakes near Jackson County
Transylvania County, NC 19 km (12 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Transylvania County
Haywood County, NC 28 km (18 mi) S of here earthquakes near Haywood County
Macon County, NC 42 km (26 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Macon County
Henderson County, NC 47 km (29 mi) W of here earthquakes near Henderson County
Swain County, NC 52 km (32 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Swain County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 7 km SE of Brevard, North Carolina
  2. 2.1 8 km W of Rosman, North Carolina
  3. 2.0 7 km SSW of Canton, North Carolina
  4. 1.8 8 km W of Rosman, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  6. 1.6 9 km NNE of Salem, South Carolina
  7. 1.8 8 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  8. 2.0 7 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  9. 2.1 8 km S of West Canton, North Carolina
  10. 1.9 7 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  11. 1.9 4 km N of West Canton, North Carolina
  12. 1.8 8 km NNW of Bryson City, North Carolina
  13. 2.2 10 km W of Forest Hills, North Carolina
  14. 2.6 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  15. 1.6 9 km W of Rosman, 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.