Rare 2.3-magnitude quake rattles Georgia near wildlife reserve, geologists say

A 2.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Eatonton, Georgia, early Tuesday, Jan. 3, according to the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The 1-mile deep quake hit about 9 miles southeast of Eatonton at 10:13 a.m., the agency said. At least two dozen people reported feeling the tremor as of Tuesday afternoon, some as far away as Sparta.

The temblor rattled the area in and around Lake Sinclair, just north of the Putnam-Baldwin County line.

“I live on the lake (Sinclair); at almost this spot,” one resident wrote on Facebook. “This one was very loud, like bomb. but I have never heard them until just a few years ago.”

Eatonton, home to about 6,500 residents, is also home to the 40,000-acre Cedar Creek Wildlife Management Area, according to Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources. It’s one of the oldest nature reserves in the state and is located in the Oconee National Forest, which spans multiple Middle Georgia counties.

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of an earthquake and is now used in place of the old Richter scale, according to the USGS.

Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech. Quakes below 2.5 magnitude are seldom felt by most people.

Eatonton is about 40 miles northeast of Macon.