KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — On Saturday, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake shook several areas of East Tennessee near the North Carolina border. 6 News obtained details about the earthquake through the seismographs at Tuckaleechee Caverns and interviewed a woman from Tellico Plains who experienced the quake firsthand.

Sally Teague, who has been a resident of Tellico Plains for the past 40 years, shared that this was a completely new experience for her. She recounted that on Saturday morning, while she and her husband were at their kitchen table, a loud rumbling sound startled them. Soon after, their house began shaking, causing items to tumble off their pantry shelves.

“I have my children, and I was like, we need to grab our children, but where do we go? We don’t plan for an earthquake. And so, we were like, do we go outside? Do we stay inside? Do we get the children? Do we get under the table? Like everything was going through your mind at once, and you don’t know what to do. So, it was very scary,” explained Teague.

And it wasn’t just her house feeling the effects. Across the street, her mother-in-law’s pool was making large waves. Teague also received calls from family and friends in nearby states who said they felt it too.

United States Geological Survey records show the earthquake struck about 12 miles southeast of Greenback, Tennessee, around 9:04 a.m., 16 miles below Earth’s surface.

“Well, they come about by tectonic shift in the plates. So, when the plates break loose, it starts to just grind through, and that’s how you get an earthquake. We do have really deep, ancient fault lines and we get, you know, some movement every once in a while. But that’s the first one that I’ve ever felt,” said Benjamin Vananda a manager who tends the seismic monitor for Tuckaleechee Cavern. That exact local monitoring equipment at Tuckaleechee Cavern picked up the activity.

For Teague it’s an experience she won’t forget.

“I mean, just the shaking, it really takes you back. You’re just living it out, and just kind of everything stops, and you’re just kind of in shock, and you’re just in the moment and just hanging on and hoping that it rides through fast,” said Teague

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) tells 6 News it is not aware of any damage to East Tennessee roadways or bridges. However, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced after the earthquake that Foothills Parkway west would be closed until inspected by the Federal Highway Administration. On Sunday, they announced that no damage was found, and it had reopened.