In the past, the Valley has been the site of some larger earthquakes, similar to the one seen this week in China. While people may wonder why this area is susceptible to earthquakes, the source of them is all around, in plain sight.

Scientists say the mountains of the Shenandoah Valley are full of geologic faults, which caused some pretty big earthquakes about 300 million years ago.

These faults are where to masses of rock, such as tectonic plates, collide. Two such places in the Valley are Massanutten Mountain and the western mountains of the Valley.

Scientists say big quakes haven't happened in this area since the 19th century, but it's still not rare to feel smaller rumblings in the Valley.

JMU Geologist Steven Whitmeyer says, "Sometimes those ancient faults that are underneath our mountains get a little bit of reactivation. They get a little bit of movement on them. It's just nothing like the really active areas like California or the Himalayas."

Whitmeyer says a big quake, of magnitude six or greater, is highly unlikely in this area, but such quakes are possible.

Earlier this month, the outskirts of Washington D.C. shook with a magnitude 2.0 quake, also called a microquake.