More than 110 people used the “Did you feel it?” reporting tool on the USGS website to report they felt shaking in portions of North Carolina this evening. USGS has confirmed that an earthquake did strike; the quake struck at 7:28 pm this evening and had a shallow depth of 1.1 km; the epicenter was near West Canton, which is just west of Asheville in the western part of the state. Just weeks ago, on May 12, there was also a magnitude 2.1 earthquake that originated near Pineville.
According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, while North Carolina is no stranger to earthquakes, large, damaging earthquakes are rare. Large, damaging seismic events are rare and the few felt in North Carolina had epicenters outside of the state. Most quakes in North Carolina originate from the East Tennessee seismic zone to the west, the Charleston, South Carolina seismic zone to the south, or the Central Virginia seismic zone to the north. The most common and strongest earthquakes to strike the state have been in the western part along the Appalachian Mountains.
While people reported they felt the earthquake to USGS, there have been no reports of any damages or injuries from the weak seismic event.
