Quake rattles North Carolina counties

[Janice]

FRANKLIN, North Carolina (AP) -- A small earthquake shook buildings and rattled dishes in at least four western North Carolina counties overnight, the region's seventh noticeable temblor in the past year.

There were no reports of damage from Thursday night's 3.1-magnitude quake, centered 28 miles north of Franklin, but emergency dispatchers received a flood of calls from worried residents.

"Every line in here lit up," said Jackson County dispatcher Belinda Clawson.

Over the past year, four of six other noticeable quakes within 60 miles of Thursday's epicenter were larger, including a 3.7-magnitude temblor in August that shook houses as far south as Athens, Georgia, according to the National Earthquake Information Center.

The Southeast has several faults that occasionally produce minor earthquakes.

[BUD]

Yep,and the "BIG ONE" is over due.The last one was in 1834 a 7.0 that rocked Charleston,SC.Around here they call them the "100 year quake".

[Regit]

Yep,and the "BIG ONE" is over due.The last one was in 1834 a 7.0 that rocked Charleston,SC.Around here they call them the "100 year quake".

Just to be picky, the last big one was an estimated 6.6-7.3 on August 31, 1886.

[TexasStooge]

A lot of East Coast turmoil lately.

[Stephanie]

After all of that flooding and now this. At least it was a minor earthquake.

[brunota2003]

Yep,and the "BIG ONE" is over due.The last one was in 1834 a 7.0 that rocked Charleston,SC.Around here they call them the "100 year quake".

Just to be picky, the last big one was an estimated 6.6-7.3 on August 31, 1886.

Those were the ones felt here in Eastern NC right? I remember reading reports of shaking and damage...just cant remember which quake it was...I think the 1834 one...

[Tstormwatcher]

We're going to fall off into the Atlantic Ocean!!!!!!! Oh wait, thats the other coast and ocean.

[feederband]

Tell you what the earth has been doing alot of shaking latley...Maybe something big soon..

[Aslkahuna]

Global seismicity has not been above normal nor has the volcanic activity-the difference is that we hear more about it. For example, the recent 4.7 in Silicon Valley gets plastered all over the place whereas when I lived there, a 4.7 received little attention outside the local area.

Steve

[coriolis]

So what you're saying Steve, is that while seismicity has not increased, excitability has?