NEW YORK – People in at least seven states reported that they felt an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 that hit North Carolina on Sunday morning. The quake, one of the largest on records for the region, struck just after 8 a.m. about 1 mile outside Sparta, North Carolina.
It happened in the Blue Ridge Mountains, northwest of Winston-Salem.
The quake was felt in South Carolina. Rep. Jeff Duncan says he felt it in Laurens County. Shaking was also reported in Roanoke, Virginia and at various locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and West Virginia. Some people in the metro-Atlanta area in Georgia felt it. Most of the reports were that the shaking was light.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it received nearly 5,000 reports of people reporting shocks.
No injuries or damage were reported immediately. The Charlotte Fire Department Union tweeted that no damage was reported in the city following the quake.
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If the magnitude of the magnitude were 5.1, it would be the largest earthquake ever to hit that area. in 5,116 a 5.1 quake struck in the area.
The USGS says that moderately damaging earthquakes hit the native Carolinas every few decades and smaller ones are felt about once a year or two.
