A thunderstorm Friday, June 17 left many people in the area without electricity, and an earthquake in the early morning, Saturday, June 18, had them shaking.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, who also serves as the county’s EMA director, said the earthquake’s epicenter was near Metter, it was reported at 4:05 a.m. Saturday with a 3.9 magnitude.
Reports of shaking were received in Savannah, Bluffton, Statesboro, Columbia, Augusta, Warner Robins and Atlanta, according to reports from the National Weather Service. In Putnam County, Sills said the shaking was felt in the jail at Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, and he also received reports of it from residents all around Lake Sinclair.
“Nobody has been hurt that I know of, and I don’t know of any damage, but people don’t usually report property damage to my office regarding a storm,” he said.
The sheriff’s office has been getting calls concerning loss of electricity from a thunderstorm that raged through the area around 7:30 p.m. Friday, he said. Much of the service had been restored by Saturday morning, but electricity was still out in areas from Rock Eagle to Willard, and crews were working in the areas around Crooked Creek and Twin Bridges as well as in Eatonton around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, he said.
“We’re still getting calls now from people who are just waking up and realizing their power is out,” Sills said, adding that he was in the process of making a generator available to a family whose electricity was out and their child was on oxygen.
Numerous people also reported trees or tree limbs down in their yards and across roads, he said.