The 2011 Virginia earthquake was a magnitude 5.8 (M) earthquake in the U.S. state of Virginia on August 23, 2011, at 1:51 PM EDT (17:51 UTC). The focus was northwest of Richmond and from the town of Mineral, Virginia. The earthquake was along the Spotsylvania Fault, an ancient fault line that now sits in the middle of the North American plate. Four aftershocks happened within twelve hours of the main earthquake. The aftershocks had magnitudes 2.8, 2.2, 4.2 and 3.4. About 35 hours after the main earthquake, a sixth aftershock of magnitude 4.5 occurred. As of August 30, there have been 19 aftershocks, most of them minor.