Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
4 km WSW of Lowgap, North Carolina
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 6.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- 7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Galax city, 18 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 214 days ago
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 41 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 370,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 260,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 23× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 41 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 36.5047, -80.9152. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galax city, VA | 18 km (11 mi) | S of here | earthquakes near Galax city |
| Alleghany County, NC | 19 km (12 mi) | E of here | earthquakes near Alleghany County |
| Surry County, NC | 23 km (14 mi) | WNW of here | earthquakes near Surry County |
| Carroll County, VA | 30 km (19 mi) | SSW of here | earthquakes near Carroll County |
| Grayson County, VA | 31 km (20 mi) | ESE of here | earthquakes near Grayson County |
| Wilkes County, NC | 40 km (25 mi) | NE of here | earthquakes near Wilkes County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 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
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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.1 on 2020-08-09 — it released about 33,000 times the energy of this one.
From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.
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.