
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 13, 1994                   TAG: 9402130037
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN.                                LENGTH: Short

3 TINY QUAKES RECORDED

A seismologist says there were three minor earthquakes Friday evening in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, but the biggest disruption was probably a mining blast.

Seismographic equipment in Blacksburg, Va., also recorded an earthquake with an epicenter in Southwest Virginia, said Martin Chapman of Virginia Tech's earthquake center.

"It wasn't felt that widely but it was apparently felt intensely over a small area," Chapman said.

As for the small temblors in East Tennessee, "there were two very small events near Bristol at about 9:44 p.m. about 24 seconds apart," said Jeff Munsey, a seismologist with the Tennessee Valley Authority. "You wouldn't even know it was happening unless you were standing on top of it."

Munsey said Saturday that the two quakes measured about 1.0 on the Richter scale.

A magnitude 2 quake is the smallest normally felt by humans. A 3.5 can cause slight damage in the local area.

A disruption just before the first two quakes, at 9:40 p.m., probably was a blast - or some other activity - at a nearby mine, Munsey said.

The Bristol Police Department received more than 100 calls from residents around 10 p.m. Friday. Munsey said most of those callers probably felt the first, nonearthquake activity.

by CNB