[7] The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the eastern Appalachians which formed about 480 to 300 million years ago during subduction and subsequent continental collision with the African plate.

[9] The United States Geological Survey said that the earthquake was caused by movement on a fault within the North American Plate.

[1] The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the eastern Appalachians which began formation during the Ordovician, between 440 and 480 million years ago.

The mountain range continued to grow episodically over the next 250 million years, forming the Caledonian, Acadian, Ouachita, Variscan, and Alleghanian orogenies.

When Pangaea broke apart during the Early Mesozoic, uplifting of the Appalachians ceased, and weathering eventually eroded the range to an almost flat terrain by the end of the era.

[8][10][11] The earthquake occurred in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Alleghanian orogeny, a region that transitions between thrust and strike-slip tectonics.

[2] According to the United States Geological Survey, the mainshock was the result of oblique-reverse faulting within the North American plate.

The focal mechanism solutions for the earthquake indicate rupture occurred on a moderately dipping fault either striking to the northwest or south.

[1] Further analysis of the aftershocks, field, and InSAR data favored a west-northwest trending fault with a south-southwest dip.

[22][23] Parts of Tennessee, Ohio, Washington D.C., and Atlanta also felt the earthquake, several hundred miles away from the epicenter.

[14] Scammers took advantage of the damage, impersonating construction workers and charging people up to $500 for repairs only to never provide the services.