Small earthquake rattles Fannin Co.

MCCAYSVILLE - Nobody was hurt and there was no damage, but a small earthquake in Fannin County Saturday morning was enough to scare folks.

Robert Graham, the director of the Fannin County Emergency Management Agency, said the quake hit the McCaysville area just after midnight.

"It actually, to me, sounded just like a sudden burst of thunder that kind of rumbled for about 15 to 20 seconds before stopping," he said.

He said dispatchers told him they received numerous calls from residents worried that a plane might have crashed or some other type of explosion had occurred.

Graham said small quakes have hit the area before.

"It has happened probably two or three times over the last five or six years," he said, pointing out that there is a fault line nearby that runs northward into the Virginias.

The U.S. Geological Survey indicated the quake measured about 2.5 on the Richter scale and struck about 1 kilometer south of McCaysville.