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There were several smaller earthquakes in the area in the hours leading up to the main quake Sunday morning, officials said.

\"It trembled our house. And then it shook our bed. And we was like, What in the world was that?\" Charlotte, North Carolina, resident Nisha Thomas told ABC affiliate WSOC. \"I didn't know what it was. Honestly, I don't even know if it was earthquake or not. I experienced earthquakes little kid back in California, but I didn't know if that was an earthquake or not. It really startled me.\"

\"To me, I thought, like, I didn't even know that earthquakes actually exist in North Carolina because I'm from California. And I didn't even know that they exist. So I was really startled,\" Thomas told the station.

Aftershocks are possible in the region following the initial quake the USGS said.

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