M5.1 earthquake near Boone, North Carolina

What happened

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 4 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina on 9 Aug 2020, 12:07 UTC at a depth of 4 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Boone, about 60 km away in North Carolina, United States.