The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude-2.2 earthquake occurred at 1:08 a.m. Saturday, June 27, 2015, five miles south of Louisa. Did you feel it? If so, please report it online to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
This was followed by another magnitude-2.2 earthquake at 2:10 a.m. Monday, June 29. The epicenter was 12 miles west-southwest of Courtland, in southeast Virginia.
The June 27 earthquake near Louisa was the second quake in the area since March. Another magnitude 2.8 earthquake occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, March 16, 2015. Its epicenter was about six miles south of Louisa.
Both Louisa-area earthquakes occurred within the epicenter area of the August, 23, 2011 magnitude-5.8 earthquake, which was felt from Georgia to Canada. Barbara Prescop, a former Fairfax County Middle School teacher, was vacationing near Lake Anna that day. She was walking outdoors when all of a sudden “the ground started rolling … It sounded like thunder.”
In Fredericksburg, 2011 earthquake damage was concentrated in the downtown historic area.
The 2011 tremor didn’t come as a complete shock to scientists, who’d already pegged the Central Virginia seismic zone as one with an elevated risk for an earthquake, according to the USGS.
The USGS took measurements by plane over Louisa, Goochland and Fluvanna counties in July 2012. The data is being used to help USGS scientists locate buried geologic features associated with the August 23, 2011 earthquake and its aftershocks.
Dominion Virginia Power is planning a third nuclear generating unit at its North Anna Power Station in Louisa County. “If constructed, the GE Hitachi ESBWR unit would provide the North Anna Power Station with an additional 1,470 net megawatts of nuclear-generated electricity,” Dominion Virginia Power said.
Some are concerned about Dominion Power’s plans, considering North Anna Power Station’s location within the Central Virginia seismic zone deemed at elevated risk for earthquakes by the USGS.
More
Weather or Not – It Happens!
Follow Fredericksburg.Today on Facebook, and on Twitter at @Fxbg2day
HOME
