An area in far northwestern Georgia was rattled by a relatively minor earthquake Saturday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The 2.3 magnitude quake was reported shortly after 8 a.m. near Trenton, which is located in Dade County, not far from the Alabama and Tennessee state lines. No injuries were reported, but it wasn’t immediately clear if any homes or businesses were damaged.
According to the USGS, the earthquake had a depth of 3.6 kilometers, which is about 2.2 miles.
Trenton is located about 20 miles southwest of Chattanooga and approximately 135 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. Saturday’s earthquake was one of several reported across the state since the start of the year.
On Jan. 10, parts of North Georgia were rattled by 2.2 magnitude earthquake that happened about 10 miles outside Dalton. Just three weeks later a 2.1 magnitude quake was reported outside Tunnel Hill.
The largest earthquake on record in the Georgia region was a magnitude 5.1 that occurred in 1916, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. More than three dozen earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater have occurred in Georgia since 1974, according to the Survey. Yet, the state doesn’t have that many quakes compared to other areas.
Georgia had one of 2.5 or greater in 2018, one in 2015, one in 2014 and four in 2013, records show.
A 4.4 magnitude earthquake in central Tennessee jarred some metro residents awake in January 2019, although the epicenter was 150 miles away from downtown Atlanta.
Georgia has a number of fault lines, where quakes are most known to occur.
The Brevard Fault Line, the best-known one, runs from Blue Ridge to Marietta. The Soque River Fault follows the Sogue River in the Northeast, and Salacoa Creek is in Northwest Cherokee County.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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