The Sparta area registered a 5.1 magnitude earthquake on Aug. 9 that was felt in many other regions in North Carolina and other states. | Stock Photo
The Sparta area registered a 5.1 magnitude earthquake on Aug. 9 that was felt in many other regions in North Carolina and other states. | Stock Photo
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake was reported near Sparta by Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich on the morning of Aug. 9 that was also felt in several states.
There was also a 2.3 magnitude earthquake in the same location on Aug. 8, which was 2.5 miles southeast of Sparta, WCNC Charlotte reported on Aug. 9.
Minor damage occurred, but there are no reports of anyone getting hurt during the earthquake. But two aftershocks have been reported.
"I would expect many small aftershocks over the next few days," Panovich told WCNC Charlotte.
A State of Emergency was declared for Alleghany County.
"I've never been so scared in my entire life,” Erica Swenk, a Sparta resident, told WCNC Charlotte. "My pictures and everything on the floor and all of the broken glass, immediately it just triggers emotions, those are your memories so I started crying."
Swenk said she wasn't sure if she was going to survive the earthquake while it was happening.
Other Charlotte-area residents said the earthquake scared them as well. But one resident said it wasn't much of a surprise.
"It's been that kind of year," Endora Crawford told WCNC Charlotte. "Anything that happens is not a surprise."
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