North Carolina Hit By Strongest Earthquake In Over 100 Years

On Sunday morning, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the border between North Carolina and Virginia. Around 10 a.m. EDT, residents of the area got #earthquake trending on Twitter by sharing their reactions to the natural disaster.

NBC News reported that the epicenter stretched an estimated 37 miles from Boone, North Carolina, and 46 miles from Lenoir, North Carolina. Early reports suggest around 45,000 people felt the quake.

One person revealed they initially thought their pet was misbehaving when the earthquake struck. “I felt this #earthquake in Wilmington NC and thought it was my dog shaking my bed only to realize he wasn’t near my bed and thought I was going insane,” one person wrote.

Another Twitter user added, “Earthquake?!?! The Earth got no business quaking in North Carolina #earthquake.”

Meanwhile, one person admitted they were completely unaffected by the quake. “Totally slept through it. I am a hard sleeper. #earthquake,” the individual tweeted.

Prior to North Carolina’s latest quake, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the area hasn’t felt a natural disaster that powerful since 1916 when a 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit.

According to the USGS website, the people of North Carolina typically experience the occasional earthquake. “Moderately damaging earthquakes strike the inland Carolinas every few decades, and smaller earthquakes are felt about once each year or two,” the site states.

“Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S., although less frequent than in the western U.S., are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast.”

Since the earthquake has struck the area, there have been no reports of severe injuries or detrimental damage in the area.