ALLEGHANY COUNTY, N.C. — Sunday morning's 5.1 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter near Sparta, NC left more than 100 buildings damaged in Alleghany County, but no injuries have been reported, according to officials.
During an emergency meeting just hours after the earthquake, Alleghany County Sheriff Bryan Maines said he spoke with federal officials at The White House about the disaster.
"I've been on the phone with The White House this morning. They assured me they would help as much as possible. And they expressed interest in the resolution this morning for declaration of emergency," Sheriff Maines said.
Sparta's mayor Wes Brinegar signed a Declaration of Emergency during the meeting.
Daniel Roten, Emergency Management Coordinator, Alleghany County, said a few homes had to be evacuated due to the extent of the damage.
The Alleghany County Office Building will be closed on Monday to assess and repair earthquake damage, according to a Facebook post late Sunday.
"We've got some pretty significant foundation issues. Building cracks. Chimneys in the process of falling or have already fallen," Roten said. "Parking lots cracked, roads cracked, water main breaks around town."
WFMY News 2 spoke with Roten about what his team has witnessed in the aftermath of the earthquake.
"We have widespread minor damage with localized pockets of severe damage," Roten said. "It could have been much, much worse. Other than some shaken nerves, we fared pretty well."
Roten said he has not heard of any injuries reported from the earthquake, but it caused a significant amount of damage to property.
He estimates more than 100 buildings were damaged in Allegheny County, but his team is still in the assessment process.
Roten said the most common damage he has seen include cracked and shifted building foundation, rock walls damaged, and chimneys damaged.
There were also water main breaks that had to be repaired.
Blue Ridge Energy had damage to a substation, but that has since been repaired, Roten said.
If people have damage to report, Roten said they should contact the non-emergency Alleghany County dispatch number at 336-372-4455.