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Early Morning Earthquake Shakes Georgia Southwest of Atlanta

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The earthquake struck at the orange dot inside the colored concentric circles on this map. Image: USGS
The earthquake struck at the orange dot inside the colored concentric circles on this map. Image: USGS

An early morning earthquake did some shaking today south and west of Atlanta in the state of Georgia. According to USGS, at 5:26 am near the town of Lone Oak from a depth of only 1.5 km, a relatively weak magnitude 2.2 earthquake struck. While it struck early, some did report to USGS they felt it through their website reporting tool. However, the earthquake was too weak to create any damage or injuries.

Today’s earthquake was the third to strike in the area over the last few weeks. On September 30, a magnitude 2.0 earthquake struck just over the border in Mentone, Alabama. Then on October 9, a magnitude 2.1 earthquake struck very close to today’s.

According to USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.

This map illustrates earthquake activity in and around Georgia cataloged by the USGS between 1903 and 2020. Image: Georgia Earthquake Awareness Guide 2020
This map illustrates earthquake activity in and around Georgia cataloged by the USGS between 1903 and 2020. Image: Georgia Earthquake Awareness Guide 2020

According to Georgia’s Emergency Management and Home Security Agency (GEMA), approximately 15 percent of the world’s earthquakes are scattered over areas like Georgia that lack clearly defined active faults. Although earthquakes in Georgia are comparatively rare, scattered earthquakes caused significant damage and are an important consideration for homeowners. Georgia’s northwest counties, South Carolina border counties, and central and west central Georgia counties are most at risk.

GEMA recommends that people in Georgia plan for the risk of damaging earthquakes, especially if they’re in the northern Georgia counties of Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Pickens, Rabun, Towns, Union, Walker, and Whitfield, the South Carolina border counties of Burke, Chatham, Columbia, Effingham, Elbert, Lincoln, Richmond, and Screven, and central and west-central counties of Twiggs, Bibb, Jones, Baldwin, Hancock, Greene, Putnam, Butts, Jasper, Newton, Morgan, Walton, Harris, and Muscogee.

GEMA writes, “It’s important to be aware of your earthquake risk and to know how to protect yourself.” They encourage people to take a moment now to learn basic steps they should take before, during, and after an earthquake.