According to USGS, a weak earthquake shook portions of central North Carolina today, generating “Did you feel it?” reports to their website from residents that felt rattles from the quake. At 5:56 am today, a magntiude 2.1 earthquake struck Pineville, North Carolina, south of Charlotte and close to the North and South Carolina state line. The immediate area has not seen any seismic activity over the last 30 days, but there was a magnitude 1.8 earthquake near Old Fort, North Carolina on April 12 to the northwest, and a 2.5 magnitude earthquake near Sparta, Georgia on May 7 to the southwest.
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.
