Powerful 5.1 magnitude earthquake jolts Charlotte area
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake felt in Charlotte shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday was centered just over a mile south of Sparta, near the Virginia border, the strongest quake to hit North Carolina in more than a century.
In fact, it was the strongest earthquake in the state since 1916, according to the National Weather Service, when a 5.2 magnitude quake occurred near Skyland, just outside of Asheville.
Sparta is an Alleghany County town of about 1,800 people, 100 miles north of Charlotte.
