3.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Augusta National

Weather is one of the most likely reasons that a round of golf is interrupted. One minute you could be teeing off and the next you could be in a torrential downpour. At Augusta, however, mother nature had a whole new way of pausing rounds of golf.

On Tuesday morning, play was halted at Augusta National after what sounded like an explosion or the backfiring of a truck was picked up by golfers on the course. It was later discovered that there was an earthquake that was causing the ruckus on the course. The earthquake that was recorded at 3.2 magnitude struck six kilometers southwest of Augusta and had a depth of 12.9 kilometers.

Earthquakes are seen as a natural disaster in most areas but luckily this quake wasn’t strong enough to do too much damage. As a result, no one reported any major injuries on or around the course. That doesn’t mean that this shaking wasn’t felt, however, as the intensity of the quake scored a five, which is described as being strong enough to be felt by nearly everyone in the effected area.

Despite the intense feel, golf was able to resume with the warning that some aftershocks may pop up. Those around the earthquake’s epicenter, however, were a little more rattled by the event.

Georgia resident Earnestine Brown said, “I was in my bedroom, and everything just went ‘boom’ and I was scared to move for a minute. We all started pacing through the house, and we thought maybe a tree had fallen or something.”

After the earthquake subsided, Augusta began trending all over social media, especially Twitter. While many were just trying to figure out what happened and make sure others were ok, some people were in a more joking mood. One Twitter user, Nova Marie, compared the earthquake in Georgia to rain in Los Angeles, stating that both are “infrequent, short, harmless but so unheard of, the locals lose their minds.”

Luckily this earthquake held off for a few months and didn’t halt play during The Masters but it is good to see that no one suffered any injuries in the event. And hopefully, the course can avoid unwanted shaking for the rest of the golf season.

Cover Image via Flickr