More than 500 buildings in small town were damaged by NC’s biggest quake in 100 years
More than 500 buildings were damaged in Sparta when a 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck North Carolina on Aug. 9 — the largest quake in the state since 1916.
Sparta, a town of less than 2,000 people near the Virginia border, was closest to the quake’s epicenter.
“It’s been quite a trying week,” Alleghany County Emergency Management Coordinator Daniel Roten said Monday. “We’re all here and we’re all making it.”
That was Roten’s introduction to a damage report on the town’s homes and infrastructure during a county commissioners meeting Monday. As of 8 a.m. that morning, he said they had more than 500 reports of damage.
The official figure was 525 buildings, Roten said during a news conference Tuesday, ABC 11 reported.
At least 60 buildings were considered to have “major damage” — meaning the structure lost at least 40% of its value, he said.
Some buildings with significant damage have been further hurt by aftershocks and rainfall in the week since the earthquake hit, Roten told county commissioners Monday. At least 13 aftershocks followed the 5.1 quake, The News & Observer reported.
“The damage is going to be in the millions,” Roten said. “I don’t know exactly yet — that number changes every second.”
County commissioner John Irwin said elected officials should have been informed sooner about the level of damage in the area.
“That’s part of the problem, we aren’t getting any relief, we aren’t getting any help,” he said at Monday’s meeting. “It was an event and now it’s forgot. We aren’t telling people how badly we’ve been hurt.”
At least 19 people in 10 families are being housed by the Red Cross, Roten said Tuesday, according to ABC 11. That doesn’t include people who are staying with friends or relatives.
Sparta Mayor Wes Brinegar said residents Proare now “having anxiety issues over every little rumble.”
Brinegar and Alleghany County Chairperson Bill Osman said Sparta will need state and federal help to rebuild, pointing to state legislators and members of congress to get disaster relief funds in place, ABC 11 reported. Brinegar also said many of Sparta’s families don’t have earthquake insurance policies.
”We need your help,” Brinegar said, according to the TV station. “The elderly population here in our community cannot afford to fix their homes because insurance is not going to cover it. Don’t forget about Sparta and Alleghany County.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 6:46 PM.
