THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 1994                TAG: 9408090408
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

EARTHQUAKE DID HIT EASTERN N.C. THIS WEEKEND, OFFICIALS HAD SAID JUST THE OPPOSITE.

The earth really did move.

Contrary to what the National Earthquake Information Center said over the weekend, an earthquake really did hit eastern North Carolina on Saturday.

``I've sort of got egg on my face, I guess,'' said Russ Needham, a geophysicist at the center in Golden, Colo.

Dedicated phone lines that stations use to report were down over the weekend, so Needham said he did not have the necessary data to say an earthquake had struck.

The earthquake, which measured 3.6 on the Richter scale, struck at 3:54 p.m. Saturday. An earthquake with that measurement is considered minor, he said.

Ground tremors were felt in parts of Beaufort, Craven, Carteret, Pamlico and Onslow counties.

In addition, it was felt in Chapel Hill, Blacksburg, Va., South Carolina, West Virginia and New York, Waverly Person, chief of the earthquake center, told the Washington Daily News.

The fault responsible for the earthquake is not known, said Christine Powell of the geology department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There are several faults in the area but they have not been charted because of a lack of money, she said.

Martin Chappman of Virginia Polytechnic Institute said no earthquake this large has hit North Carolina since instruments have been able to record a tremor's size.

That data go back to the 1970s, he said.

No earthquake has ever struck the Pamlico Sound region since seismic activity has been recorded in the United States, either by instrument or written account, Powell said.

A tremor that registered 2.1 on the scale shook Greensboro last summer, she said.

KEYWORDS: EARTHQUAKES

by CNB