A 2.7-magnitude earthquake confirmed on Dec. 7 in Henderson County

Dean Hensley, Hendersonville Times-News
·2 min read
A graphic showing the intensity of the earthquake reported on Dec. 7 in Hendersonville.
A graphic showing the intensity of the earthquake reported on Dec. 7 in Hendersonville.

HENDERSONVILLE — At 10:23 p.m. Dec. 7, many residents in Henderson County reported hearing a loud boom, and it was such a loud boom that many said the ground shook.

It did shake.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 2.7-magnitude earthquake with a depth of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) was confirmed at 10:23 p.m. Dec. 7 in Valley Hill, which is just under two miles from Hendersonville. As of 10 a.m. Dec. 8, there were 717 responses in 35 zip codes, the USGS reported on its website, https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/earthquakes.

According to USGS, there was a 2.5-magnitude earthquake just over a year ago in Hendersonville that happened on Dec. 5, 2021. The largest-recorded earthquake in North Carolina was 5.2-magnitude that was recorded in Skyland in 1916.

People were quick to get on social media and ask what the loud boom was just before 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 7.

"Wow! We felt it here in Laurel Park. We didn’t know what it was... felt like a tree falling in the woods or something. It shook the whole house and was loud," Serenity Alexander posted.

"My dog started growling and barking for about five minutes and then all of a sudden I heard a big boom and it felt like an explosion... sounded like one, too. So I don't know if he sensed the earthquake coming on or what," posted Sara Lawson of Hendersonville.

There were a total of six earthquakes reported by the USGS in the U.S. on Dec. 7, with three in California, one in Nebraska, one in Oklahoma and the one in North Carolina (Hendersonville).

"Big boom and shake here on the hill in Laurel Park last night," WHKP President Art Cooley posted on Facebook on the morning of Dec. 8.

The quake was also felt in Whispering Hills, according to Paula Roberts, a former advertising agent with the Times-News who now works at the Children & Family Resource Center.

"I was sitting at my desk, editing photos, when I heard a loud boom and the house shook," Roberts said. "I thought, living close the interstate, that a Mac truck has hit the new bridge in the very dense fog. I immediately posted to Facebook and started seeing links to USGS showing an earthquake near Laurel Park."

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Did you feel it? An earthquake was confirmed on Dec. 7 in Valley Hill