Virginia has a low risk on earthquakes, especially in the northern part of the state. The Virginia seismic zone has not had a history of regular earthquake activity. Earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 in magnitude because Virginia is located centrally on the North American Plate, far from plate boundaries. Locations near tectonic plates suffer earthquakes frequently. The largest recorded earthquake, at an estimated 5.9 magnitude, was in 1897 near Blacksburg. The largest since then was in August 2011, when a 5.8 magnitude quake struck near Mineral, Virginia and was felt moderately to strongly throughout the state.