GSA Today
Volume 32, Issue 3-4
Perspective of a section of the surface rupture of the 9 Aug.
2020 Mw 5.1 Sparta, North Carolina, USA, earthquake, looking south.
Here, about 3 km eastward from downtown Sparta, along a north-
facing slope, the rupture is expressed by reverse faulting, generating a
linear scarp up to ~25 cm height. The southern block (hanging wall) is
consistently uplifted. The vegetation was removed to study the scarp and to help with topographic
and geophysical surveys. In the footwall, a backpack and a topography survey pole provide a scale
for the morphological feature. Photo by Paula Figueiredo, Sept. 2020.
© The Geological Society of America, Inc.