North Carolina earthquake: Locals 'scared' after state hit by strongest tremor for 104 years
North Carolina has been hit by its biggest earthquake in more than a century.
The 5.1-magnitude quake struck at 8.07am on Sunday, 100 miles north of Charlotte near the town of Sparta, on the border with Virginia.
The shock was felt as far away as South Carolina and Georgia, with the US Geological Survey (USGS) reporting a number of reports of the quake in Atlanta, around 300 miles away.
Sparta mayor Wes Brinegar said: “It felt like a big locomotive going by and a big wave coming underneath the bed.”
It’s the biggest earthquake in the state since a 5.2-magnitude event in 1916.
#EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE: This 4 Brothers gas station right outside of Sparta suffered product damage from when the quake shook the store. Pics: Bruce Edwards. @WXII pic.twitter.com/VPZIWw4SnA
— WXII Meredith Stutz (@WXIIMeredith)
Photos of earthquake damage in Sparta, NC
Courtesy: sister station WGHP pic.twitter.com/NVp5vKfOFO— WCBD News 2 (@WCBD)
No injuries have been reported so far.
Mr Brinegar said a lot of people in the town were 'scared’: “This was the most intense one we've ever had.”
More aftershocks are expected near the epicenter of the main shock throughout the week.
The earthquake happened at a depth of around 5.7 miles, meaning the USGS considers it to be a shallow quake, which tend to be more destructive.
