Minor quake rattles Tennessee, N.C., Georgia

The minor quake, which hit at 11:09 p.m. EDT Wednesday, was centered about 2 miles southeast of Hot Springs in Madison County, 25 miles north of Asheville, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center.

Rocks crashed down onto N.C. 209 in Madison County, but the road remained open. In the Laurel community, the quake damaged the foundation of a mobile home, said Gary Elkins, a Madison County emergency dispatcher.

And the quake tossed dishes and pictures off walls in some Yancey County homes, said Tiawana Ramsey, an earthquake planner for the N.C. Division of Emergency Management.

The temblor shook houses as far as Athens, Ga., she said. WVLT-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., reported calls from residents feeling the quake along the North Carolina-Tennessee border in Sevier, Greene and Cocke counties.

Residents inundated police and fire departments with calls. “It was hectic there for a while,” said Mack Salley, with Buncombe County’s Emergency Management Center.

Asheville resident Jean Harrell was awakened by the quake when the temblor shook her whole house.

“I went downstairs because I thought my water heater had blown up,” Harrell said. “Then I thought maybe it was my gas system. It scared me to death.”

Sheriff’s deputies and troopers with N.C. Highway Patrol checked landslide-prone areas of Interstate 40 and communities in the northern part of the county. The roads there appeared to be in good shape.

The Southeast has scores of faults, the most famous of which is the Brevard Fault, which runs through the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, including Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe and McDowell counties.

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On the Net:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Quakes/usceaf.htm