DALTON, Ga. -- A small earthquake rattled buildings and stunned residents in northwest Georgia during lunch time on Wednesday.
The epicenter of the magnitude 2.7 quake, which occurred at 11:44 a.m., was centered one mile west of Dalton or 77 miles north of Atlanta, states the U.S. Geological Survey.
"These relatively small earthquakes are not that rare, but they are exciting when they do occur," said Julian Gray, Curator of the Tellus Science Museum in nearby Cartersville.
No inital reports of damage had been reported by early afternoon.
"I left the coffee shop and the next thing I know is I nearly lost my balance," states Sherm Johnson of nearby South Dixie Road in Dalton. "I thought it was a low flying jet's engines."
"This area has periodic minor earthquakes such as this one" every five to ten years, Gray added.
This quake originated 3.2 miles below the ground's surface.
