Did you feel it?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, an earthquake greeted northwest Georgia Friday morning just seconds before 10 AM (EST). Its epicenter was 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) north of Plainville, and 5.9 mi. (9.5 km) deep.

The seismographs that registered the quake indicate that at its peak, it had a magnitude of 2.72 on the moment magnitude scale (often called the “Richter scale”, though MMS largely replaced the original Richter during the 1970s and ’80s). The epicenter was about 17.5 mi. southeast of Summerville as the crow flies.

Seismic events at this scale, while newsworthy, are quite common: in and around million quakes between 2 and 3 on the scale are registered yearly by the USGS. They are occasionally felt, but virtually never have a structural effect on buildings. Events under 2 are occurring continuously as the tectonic plates are in constant motion, are only detectable with a seismograph, and often go unrecorded by the USGS.

According to USGS, “The Eastern Tennessee seismic zone extends across Tennessee and northwestern Georgia into northeastern Alabama. It is one of the most active earthquake areas in the Southeast. Although the zone is not known to have had a large earthquake, a few earthquakes in the zone have caused slight damage. The largest known (magnitude 4.6) occurred on April 29, 2003, near Fort Payne, Alabama. Earthquakes too small to cause damage are felt about once a year. Earthquakes too small to be felt are abundant in the seismic zone, and seismographs have recorded hundreds of them in recent decades.”