M1.6 earthquake 6 km SW of Valley Head, Alabama
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 6 km SW of Valley Head, Alabama on Sun, Sep 14, 1997, 2:23 AM CDT (07:23 UTC), 2 km (1 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.0 2 km WSW of Lyerly, Georgia. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 1.6 (md), micro
- Local time
- UTC
- 1997-09-14 07:23:50 UTC
- Depth
- 2.3 km (1.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 34.521° N, 85.654° W
- Region
- Alabama
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 213°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 19
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 2.02 km WSW of Lyerly, Georgia · 10572 days ago · 0 km deep · 25 km away
- 1.76 km SSE of Valley Head, Alabama · 10564 days ago · 2 km deep · 6 km away
- 2.43 km WSW of Menlo, Georgia · 10550 days ago · 0 km deep · 15 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayAlabama earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event se61540. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 5:20 AM UTC.