Beaufort County Feels Earthquake | Eastern NC Now

   Beaufort County feels the vibrations from an earthquake, where the epicenter was estimated to be in, or around Mineral,Virginia - northwest of Richmond Virginia. Beaufort County is about 180 miles due south of Mineral.

    At about 1:52 pm, on August 23, 2011, the resonating vibrations that registered 5.9 on the seismic scale in Mineral, Va. were felt in Beaufort County to a lesser extent. Lynn Deatherage reported that, from within the two story frame and brick home in the subdivision of Mac'swood, she felt a resonating rumble that traveled up her legs, which continued solidly throughout the entirety of her person.

    Lynn blithely commented, "Now I finally know what Carole King meant when she sang 'I feel the earth move under my feet'."

   David Winstead reported from a frame structure on West Second Street, in Washington, NC, that he felt an initial vibration that lasted 1 to 2 minutes, and then a violent shock, which lasted a few seconds, shook the entire building. David went on to explain that an ensuing vibration, as a resulting minor aftershock, vibrated for another one to two minutes.

    David continued: "After that last vibration, I went outside to see if maybe Godzilla was plodding down the street here in Washington."

    In southwest North Carolina, where I am away on business, there was no vibration, no shock, no earthquake. I am located just south and west of the South Mountains, which are east of, and not a part of, the Blue Ridge Mountains which run as a vector south, north, and just west of Mineral, Virginia.
This terrain map, scale - 1 inch : 2 miles, shows the location and the lay of the land of Mineral, Virginia. Mineral, located in Virginia's northern Piedmont, is northwest of Richmond, Va., southwest of Lake Anna and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains.