Overnight Earthquake Rattles Virginia

The epicenter of today's earthquake is at the star surrounded by the concentric colored circles. Image: USGS — The epicenter of today’s earthquake is at the star surrounded by the concentric colored circles. Image: USGS

A relatively weak magnitude 2.3 earthquake struck western Virginia during the overnight hours; fortunately, the earthquake was too weak to generate any injuries or damage reports. The earthquake struck at 1:32 am this morning from a depth of 14.2 km near New Castle, Virginia, not far from the West Virginia / Virginia state line.

Today’s earthquake hit north and east of an earthquake of a somewhat stronger earthquake that caused some damage last October. Just before 5:30 am on October 25, a mild earthquake rattled southwestern Virginia near the North Carolina border. According to USGS, that magnitude 2.6 event struck at 5:25 am at a depth of 2.8 km. Out of an abundance of caution, Independence Elementary School and Grayson County Schools were closed to survey any earthquake damage.

Today's earthquake struck near the Virginia/North Carolina border; the epicenter is located at the orange dot inside the concentric colored circles. Image: USGS — October’s earthquake struck near the Virginia/North Carolina border; the epicenter is located at the orange dot inside the concentric colored circles. Image: USGS

In 2020, after a magnitude 5.1 event struck the region in August, three local schools suffered damage from that earthquake. Independence Elementary School experienced the most damage then and structural engineers were to make sure the October earthquake didn’t add more concerns to the buildings in the district.

While no residents reported feeling or hearing today’s overnight quake to USGS, that wasn’t the case with the October event. Residents in the region came to social media to describe the shaking sensation they felt along with a loud boom they heard. Some thought an explosion struck the area rather than an earthquake at first.