QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Tennessee

Yes. A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Tennessee, 88 km (55 mi) N of Memphis, TN, at 12:36 am CST on 7 February 2022 (06:36 UTC), 11 km deep.

88 km (55 mi) N of Memphis, TN

· 11 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mississippi County 17 kmDunklin County 30 kmLauderdale County 33 kmPemiscot County 37 kmTipton County 49 kmDyer County 53 kmGreene County 60 kmCraighead County 62 kmLake County 64 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mississippi County, 17 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Reelfoot scarp and New Madrid seismic zone, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1738 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Blytheville 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 35.9022, -89.9530. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mississippi County, AR 17 km (11 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mississippi County
Dunklin County, MO 30 km (18 mi) NNW earthquakes near Dunklin County
Lauderdale County, TN 33 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lauderdale County
Pemiscot County, MO 37 km (23 mi) NNE earthquakes near Pemiscot County
Tipton County, TN 49 km (30 mi) SSE earthquakes near Tipton County
Dyer County, TN 53 km (33 mi) ENE earthquakes near Dyer County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

27 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.6 2 km NNW of Dell, Arkansas
  2. 2.2 4 km E of Steele, Missouri
  3. 1.7 3 km NW of Dell, Arkansas
  4. 1.7 8 km NNW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  5. 2.5 2 km SSW of Caruthersville, Missouri
  6. 2.1 6 km N of Blytheville, Arkansas
  7. 1.5 6 km WSW of Dell, Arkansas
  8. 2.3 8 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
  9. 2.5 9 km SW of Caruthersville, Missouri
  10. 1.8 7 km N of Etowah, Arkansas
  11. 1.7 5 km NNW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  12. 2.1 7 km SW of Caruthersville, Missouri
  13. 2.7 6 km SE of Manila, Arkansas
  14. 2.1 1 km WSW of Cooter, Missouri
  15. 1.5 2 km NNW of Cooter, Missouri

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.