9th earthquake of the year touches small North Carolina mountain town, USGS says
Two minor earthquakes registered nearly 100 miles apart in the North Carolina mountains Wednesday and Thursday, U.S. Geological Survey data showed, including near a small town that’s become sort of earthquake central in the state.
A 2.1 magnitude quake registered Wednesday about two and a half miles southwest of Rosman and a 1.8 magnitude quake about five miles west of Bakersville early Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
No one reported feeling the quakes and they caused no damage, the USGS said.
However, a woman near Spruce Pine, 11 miles southeast of Bakersville, reported to the National Weather Service that she felt the quake. NWS meteorologists asked on social media if anyone felt the quake.
Bakersville is in Mitchell County, nearly 130 miles northwest of Charlotte
“I felt my home shake floor shook and our Pyrenees Henry was barking different,” the woman wrote.
Quakes near Rosman
Wednesday’s quake was the ninth of the year for Rosman, a town of about 730 people in Transylvania County on the eastern boundary of Pisgah National Forest, 9 miles southwest of Brevard.
Charlotte is about 140 miles east of Rosman, which saw three quakes over four days in August, McClatchy News previously reported.
On July 11, a 2.2 magnitude quake was centered about 5.6 miles west of Rosman, The Charlotte Observer reported. At least two people said on social media that they felt the earthquake, according to the USGS.
Earthquakes under 3.0 are considered weak on the earthquake magnitude scale and typically cause no damage.
On May 10, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake near the Tennessee-North Carolina border was felt as far east as Charlotte, the USGS reported.
That quake struck at 9:04 a.m. and was centered about 12 miles southeast of Greenback, Tennessee. That’s near North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest.
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This story was originally published September 13, 2025 at 12:18 PM.