Historic Earthquakes

Southern West Virginia
1969 11 20 01:00:09.3 UTC (Local 11/19)
Magnitude 4.5
Intensity VI

Largest Earthquake in West Virginia

Minor damage occurred in Giles County, Virginia, at Glen Lyn and Rich Creek, and at three towns in southern West Virginia. At Glen Lyn, a few bricks were knocked from a chimney, windows were broken, and plaster was broken from most of the walls in an old house. At Rich Creek, plaster cracked and fell and windows were broken. A cornice reportedly was shaken from one building in Henry County, at Collinsville, Virginia. Windows also were broken in southern Mercer County, West Virginia, at Lerona, Oakvale, and Elgood. Felt over all or parts of nine States: Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.