Did you feel the earth move this morning?
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed that a 4.1 magnitude quake occurred at 9:04 a.m. and was centered near Greenback, TN, and rattled North Georgia and Metro Atlanta.
There haven’t been any reports of injury or damage.
Rough Draft has received messages via social media from readers across the area, including Athens, Jasper, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Marietta, and Intown Atlanta, reporting everything from a gentle swaying to rattling furniture and dishware.
One Woodstock resident said her whole house shook. A resident in Roswell who lives on the fifth floor of an apartment building to the east of Canton Street said she felt the building shake for a few seconds, while another resident just west of the town center felt nothing.
Angela Hansberger, who lives in Tucker, said she was standing in her kitchen when she felt her legs shake and then heard dishes and windows rattling. “My cat came running in and stared at me wild-eyed,” she told Rough Draft. Thinking it was the wind, she glanced outside, but the trees were still. Hansberger said that when she realized it was likely an earthquake, she registered a report with the USGS.
Former Atlanta resident Grace Cobbs, who works as a nurse at the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tenn., about 29 miles from the quake’s epicenter, said she felt the building “shudder” during the five-second episode.
She described the event as “fairly subtle,” adding that the hospital experienced no outages or disruptions to service.
Flowery Branch resident Nancy Hirdt said she heard a rumble around 9 a.m. and initially thought it was a blast from the quarry that skirts her neighborhood.
“Then realized as the shaking intensified that it has to be an earthquake,” Hirdt said. “It lasted a good five to seven seconds.”
Marietta resident Candy Hom said she felt a “ripple through one end of the house to the next,” but that it was not strong enough to dislodge items from shelves.
Laura Scholz was just finishing her cool down after racing The Atlanta Track Club’s Northside Hospital Women’s 4 Miler in Buckhead when she felt the ground shake and sway slightly. At the time, she dismissed it as lightheadedness.
While Saturday’s earthquake was centered near Knoxville, TN, the 4.1 magnitude earthquake in 1916, 30 miles outside of Atlanta, still holds the record for the largest earthquake ever recorded in Georgia. Three years ago, a 3.9 magnitude earthquake in Metter, GA, rattled much of the southeastern part of the state.
Head to our FB page or our Instagram page and tell us where you were when you felt the earthquake. Check back for updates.