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Fault line discovered right before earthquake anniversary

Posted at 12:50 PM, Aug 22, 2012
and last updated 2012-08-22 13:15:34-04

Mineral (WTVR) – Do you remember exactly where you were when the ground started shaking?

 Thursday August 23, 2012 marks the first anniversary of the earthquake which started in Louisa and could be felt by people hundreds of miles away.

Who could forget the widespread damage to homes, schools and other buildings, some of which you can still see today.

Since the earthquake geologists have been learning a lot about fault lines in Virginia but much remains a mystery.

While researchers learn more every day they say predicting the next big quake won’t be easy.

“What they were able to learn was that the main earthquake and most of the aftershocks occurred on an unnamed fault, a fault we didn’t know about. There’s a very good chance that there will be an earthquake sometime in the future that will be larger than this one but we really don’t have much of a record to say,” said David Spears, a Virginia state geologist.

The five point eight magnitude earthquake was centered just south of Mineral in Louisa County and its shocks could be felt as far away as Georgia and Canada. 

On Thursday the Department of Mines, Mineral and Energy will be holding luncheon in Charlottesville.

You’re invited to the event that begins at noon.

During the luncheon there will be discussion about the earthquake last August.