This morning at exactly 7:52 am, a 1.6 magnitude earthquake struck the upper tip of Lake Norman.
According to the USGA, the earthquake had an epicenter of 35.731°N 81.079°W, which is just 1.2 miles north of Catawba and about 20 miles north of Charlotte.
Yesterday afternoon, at about 2:42, a different earthquake hit Sparta, NC.
The Sparta quake is being considered an aftershock from the largest North Carolina earthquake in over 100 years that continues to rattle the same region since last August.
The USGS’s ‘Did You Feel It’ map showed that people reported feeling the quake as far away as Alabama and Pennsylvania:
Because August 9th’s quake was so large, it’s aftershocks will likely continue for some time, and could even trigger other quakes around our state.
According to the USGA, “Aftershocks can continue over a period of weeks, months, or years. In general, the larger the mainshock, the larger and more numerous the aftershocks, and the longer they will continue.”
Earthquakes have been increasing in frequency around the Charlotte region over the past few years. Last year, we saw a 4.4 magnitude quake hit Decatur, TN, and a couple of months ago, a 2.6 magnitude quake rocked a small town just north of Charlotte.
