Earthquake shakes up north Georgia

GAINESVILLE - From all over north Georgia - Gainesville, Columbus to Newnan to Athens and Atlanta - people were rattled by an apparent earthquake about 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake - which registered a 4.9 on the Richter scale - rattled windows and awoke people in the South and was greater than initially thought.

It was felt in seven states.

"It shook us up at Lula," one caller to WDUN said just minutes after the event.

"It knocked me out of a deep sleep and I heard things rattling in my house," another caller said.

"Chimes started chiming on our door, I thought a truck had hit our house or something. It was unbelievable," another caller said.

At the Radio Center on Thompson Bridge Road, computer monitors and other equipment shook for several seconds.

Hall County fire Marshall David Kimbrell was the first to confirm to WDUN that the source was a 4.7 earthquake centered near Fort Payne, Alabama. The National Weather Service later confirmed that report.

The actual GPS location was LAT 34.552, LON -85.5037. i.e. five miles south by southeast of Mentone, Alabama.

Captain Roger Wells of the Fort Payne Police said it was his first earthquake experience.

"This is first time we've had one around here," Wells said. "Believe it or not we haven't had any damage or injuries reported. We just had a real hard shaking here and it sounded like a real loud explosion."