GREENSBORO, N.C. — According to our Meteorologist, there was a very small earthquake in Sparta this afternoon at 2:42 p.m. It measured a 2.2 magnitude.
There have continued to be other small quakes in the last few months in the area. The most recent being back on February 9th.
Here are some things you might not know about earthquakes
-Question: Is there a way to predict earthquakes?
Answer: You can certainly predict areas where earthquakes are likely, but it is very difficult (nearly impossible) to predict when an individual earthquake will occur, except that aftershocks are common after big earthquakes.
-Question: Does one earthquake lead to more later?
Answer: It can, and we're seeing that in Puerto Rico now as they deal with aftershocks. For this earthquake in North Carolina, I wouldn't expect there to be many aftershocks, and if there were any, they would likely be smaller than the original one, which means they wouldn't likely be big enough for people to feel.
Question: How common are quakes in NC? Across the country?
Answer: North Carolina has a relatively low frequency of earthquakes. When we do have them, they're usually in the mountains or in the western part of the state.