5.1 magnitude earthquake shakes North Carolina

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck North Carolina near the Virginia border on Sunday, with shaking felt as far away as Tennessee and South Carolina. It's the largest quake to hit the state since 1916, the National Weather Service said.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake's epicenter was 2.5 miles southeast of Sparta, North Carolina, at a depth of about 2.3 miles. It hit just after 8 a.m., and could be felt throughout North Carolina, as well as in Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina, the USGS said.

Kendra Kitler posted video to Facebook of her house shaking. “What's happening, what's happening,” she said as she picked up her baby.

Michael Hull told The Associated Press that he was standing in his driveway at his home in Sparta when he noticed a group of deer running.

“Not even a minute passed and the side-to-side motion started,” Hull said. “It takes you a minute to realize what's happening, and you just can't believe it. Then it was over. It was loud, like God was shaking a mountain at you, literally.”

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Karen Backer was in her Greensboro, North Carolina, apartment when she initially mistook banging in her kitchen for her roommate.

“Nope, it was the cabinet doors ‘clinking' open and closed! My neighbors on the other hand said they felt our apartment building shaking,” Backer told the AP. “Well, sadly, nothing surprises me in 2020, but a hurricane and an earthquake in the same week is crazy.”