Overnight earthquake rattles part of central North Carolina, USGS says
Note: A 5.1 magnitude earthquake occurred Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. For more on this developing story, read here.
A 2.3 magnitude earthquake shook communities near Greensboro, North Carolina, early Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered about 5 miles southeast of Greensboro, near Forest Oaks, at about 1:30 a.m. About a dozen people reported feeling the weak quake to the USGS.
The Piedmont earthquake was about 3.8 miles deep, according to geologists.
There have been two other minor earthquakes in the region in the past two weeks, USGS data shows. A 2.3 magnitude quake hit near Kershaw, South Carolina, on Jan. 15, and another 2.3 shook an area west of Blacksburg, Virginia on Jan. 20.
Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale.
Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
