QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Graysville, TN

USGS: 9 km NW of Graysville, Tennessee

51 km (32 mi) N of Chattanooga, TN · 45 km (28 mi) NW of Cleveland, TN

4:01 am EST, Jan 1, 2017 · · 21 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Bledsoe County 10 kmRhea County 20 kmSequatchie County 29 kmMeigs County 30 kmVan Buren County 34 kmHamilton County 40 kmBradley County 48 kmMcMinn County 49 kmCumberland County 50 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
4:01 am EST on 1 January 2017 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) NW of Graysville, TN · earthquakes near Graysville
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Bledsoe County, 10 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3561 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) NW of Graysville, TN, at 4:01 am EST on 1 January 2017 (09:01 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Pikeville, Dayton, Sale Creek, Dunlap, Mowbray Mountain.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 35.5177, -85.1497. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Bledsoe County, TN 10 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Bledsoe County
Rhea County, TN 20 km (13 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rhea County
Sequatchie County, TN 29 km (18 mi) SW earthquakes near Sequatchie County
Meigs County, TN 30 km (19 mi) E earthquakes near Meigs County
Van Buren County, TN 34 km (21 mi) NW earthquakes near Van Buren County
Hamilton County, TN 40 km (25 mi) S earthquakes near Hamilton County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 4 km ESE of Powells Crossroads, Tennessee
  2. 3.1 4 km SSW of Crab Orchard, Tennessee
  3. 2.1 6 km NNW of Calhoun, Tennessee
  4. 1.8 5 km ENE of Lakesite, Tennessee
  5. 2.1 9 km ENE of Dayton, Tennessee
  6. 1.9 11 km SSW of Decatur, Tennessee
  7. 2.3 4 km N of Ooltewah, Tennessee
  8. 2.2 7 km SE of Dayton, Tennessee
  9. 2.4 16 km E of Spring City, Tennessee
  10. 2.3 4 km NNW of Flat Top Mountain, Tennessee
  11. 1.6 11 km SW of Rockwood, Tennessee
  12. 2.3 12 km SW of Rockwood, Tennessee
  13. 2.3 8 km E of Pikeville, Tennessee
  14. 2.5 6 km ENE of Decatur, Tennessee
  15. 1.8 4 km WSW of Graysville, Tennessee

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.