Earthquake In Virginia 2011

Virginia has suffered more than 160 earthquakes in 30 years but only a sixth were actually felt.

Earthquake in virginia 2011. The virginia earthquake of august 23 2011. The biggest was 5 9 in. A fallen chimney in louisa county va caused by the 5 8 magnitude earthquake that hit eastern virginia on aug.

State of virginia on august 23 2011 at 1 51 pm edt 17 51 utc the focus was 60 kilometres 37 mi northwest of richmond and 8 kilometres 5 mi from the town of mineral virginia. The 2011 virginia earthquake was a magnitude 5 8 m w earthquake in the u s. Officially the usgs measured the 2011 quake as a 5 8 magnitude.

The white bullseye is the epicenter of the 5 8 earthquake on august 23 2011 the large red dots with black centers are earthquakes that have occurred. The temblor was the strongest east of the mississippi since 1944 and was felt by. On august 23 2011 a magnitude 5 8 earthquake hit the piedmont region of the commonwealth of virginia united states at 1 51 04 p m.

The interactive map above shows all earthquakes in the state of virginia recorded by instruments and reported by usgs and mapped faults red lines from the virginia state geologic map 1993. The 2011 earthquake was the second strongest on record in the east and was strongest on record in virginia. What are scientists learning.

The 2011 virginia earthquake. Virginia department of mines minerals and energy a. Usgs map showing background seismicity.

On aug 23 2011 seismic waves shot out in all directions from a depth of four miles below the earth s surface about 35 miles northwest of richmond near mineral va. Edt the epicenter in louisa county was 38 mi 61 km northwest of richmond and 5 mi 8 km south southwest of the town of mineral it was an intraplate earthquake with a maximum perceived intensity of vii very strong on the mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake was along the spotsylvania fault an ancient fault line that now sits in the middle of the north american plate.

The 2011 mineral virginia earthquake and its significance for seismic hazards in. On august 23 2011 a magnitude 5 8 earthquake hit mineral virginia about 90 miles southwest of washington d c. Earthquakes in virginia and vicinity 1774 2004.