CANTON, N.C. (WNCN) — Two earthquakes shook the North Carolina mountains Thursday evening bringing the total of quakes to three in that region in a two-day period.
A 3.1-magnitude earthquake shook western North Carolina on Thursday, marking the second to do so in two days. The shock was reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 2.2 quake happened at 6:16 p.m. about 2-and-a-half miles from West Canton in Haywood County with a 3.1 quake following closest to Canton, just under eight miles north/northeast away, at 6:27 p.m.
The latest one was also nearly 14 miles away from Asheville, just more than 29 miles northwest of Hendersonville, almost 36 miles south of Greeneville, Tennessee, and a little more than 150 miles northwest of Columbia, South Carolina, the U.S. Geological Survey report said.
Most of the earthquakes recorded in the Carolinas are 2.5 or less, making this one above average.
The one on Tuesday night also hit above average, registering on the Richter scale at 2.6. That one was 4.1 miles northwest of West Canton
While there have been large earthquakes in the Carolinas in the past, the overall risk of quakes is low.
About this time last year, a 3.6-magnitude earthquake was reported in Elgin, South Carolina, the largest in the past year. Before that, it was a 5.1 that hit in Sparta, North Carolina, in August 2020.
About 20,000 earthquakes happen annually around the globe, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s approximately 55 earthquakes per day worldwide.
