Locals Feel Early Morning Earthquake

You may have been rattled out of a sound sleep this morning when an earthquake rumbled through our area.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the magnitude 4.4 earthquake hit about 4:14 this morning with the epicenter just north of Chattanooga in Decatur, Tennessee.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported an aftershock about 13 minutes later that registered a 3.3 magnitude.

Both tremors were felt here in Northeast Georgia and the Upstate and as far south as metro Atlanta and as far north as Charlotte, NC.

Stan McFarland and his wife Gail live in Eastanollee.  He said he felt the quake this morning, but didn’t know what it was.

“Last night I was awakened by a noise and I wsn’t really sure what it was. I thought maybe my wife was doing something in the kitchen,” he said. “So, I got up and didn’t see anything unusual, but when I went into the diningroom and saw some of our Christmas china cups and a couple of vases on the table had been overturned. I went back to bed and noticed the time was about 4:15a.”

McFarland said when he got up later he heard Connie Gaines announce there had been an earthquake.

“That was exactly the time I felt the quake,” he said.

The McFarlands said they have felt earthquakes a number of times in the past and believe their house may be on or near a fault line.