 Several small earthquakes have been detected primarily over western North Carolina in the last couple of months. No damage reported, but in 2020, a 5.1 earthquake and a shallow death caused damage to buildings in the mountain town of Sparta. Appalachian State University professor Scott Marshall tells NCN News. Anyone that tells you that they can predict what's going to happen next with earthquakes, I think people should be skeptical of that. And so what we're seeing now in Sparta is most likely aftershocks.