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FORT PAYNE EARTHQUAKE
APRIL 29, 2003

Seismogram of Fort Payne earthquake

On Tuesday morning, April 29, 2003, at 3:59 A.M. a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 occurred in DeKalb County, Alabama, just east of DeSoto State Park and 10 miles ENE of Fort Payne, Alabama. Pictures moved on walls, items fell off shelves, and a trailer was shaken off its foundation. Many people were shaken out of their beds when the thunderous rumble and then a strong shake of the ground began. Some reported the trembling lasted less than 10 seconds, while some areas reported shaking up to 45 seconds.

At least 40 homes in DeKalb County were damaged, said Ricky Little, executive director of the county's Emergency Management Agency. Little said Tuesday night the area hardest hit was around Hammondville, Mentone, and Valley Head. The damage included broken windows and bricks, and cracked walls and foundations. At the I-59 Flea Market at the Hammondville exit on Interstate 59, several fluorescent light tubes fell and broke. Several bricks on a chimney at Moonlake Elementary School at Mentone came loose and fell on the building's roof. The school, built in the 1930s, is located atop Lookout Mountain near the earthquake's epicenter. A few miles away at the foot of the mountain, the town of Valley Head had to switch to its reserve water supply and use water from neighboring towns after its water pumps automatically shut down. Roy Smith, a member of the Valley Head Water Works Board, said vibration from the earthquake disturbed the sediment in a natural spring, the town's main water supply, and muddied the water. The quake apparently broke a berm on a 4.5-acre pond in Lawrence County, Alabama, near Courtland. Allison Hamm said the bank gave way, dumping water and fish in a field and across Lawrence County Highway 150.

As a result of the earthquake a large 29-foot-wide sinkhole developed in Ordovican dolomites northwest of Ft. Payne.

The quake was felt in 11 states and woke people in Tuscaloosa and Montgomery Counties, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama. All these towns are within 130 km of the epicenter of the magnitude 4.9 earthquake. Only one other earthquake of this magnitude has been recorded by seismographs in Alabama. That was the 1997 4.9 magnitude earthquake in Escambia County.

This earthquake is not an isolated event. It is the largest earthquake in the largest and second most active seismic zone in the eastern United States: the East Tennessee Seismic Zone. The earthquake was deep enough to suppress significant damage in Fort Payne, the closest community, although this 4.9 magnitude event damaged weaker chimneys and formed cracks in some structures. The community now has many concerns related to this event. A top concern is the community's ability to cope with the potential occurrence of a larger earthquake when the magnitude 4.9 event raised concerns about the impact on essential services like water supplies and potential landslides on nearby mountain slopes.

The northeastern part of Alabama is in the Southern Appalachian/East Tennessee Seismic Zone. Earthquakes are common in this area but are generally so small they are not felt. In recent years there have been numerous small earthquakes in the immediate vicinity of the April 29, 2003 quake. This is the largest earthquake known to have occurred in the East Tennessee Seismic Zone historically and is one of the largest earthquakes known to have occurred anywhere in the southern Appalachians.

Other Links
Photos of Damage
Earthquake Event Report for the North Alabama 29 April Earthquake
USGS Poster
29 April 2003 Fort Payne, Alabama Earthquake