QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Knoxville, TN

USGS: 10 km NNE of Garland, Tennessee

10 km (6 mi) WSW of Knoxville, TN

5:10 am EDT, Jul 24, 2017 · · 8.1 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Knox County 12 kmAnderson County 23 kmBlount County 30 kmLoudon County 33 kmUnion County 43 kmRoane County 44 kmSevier County 50 kmCampbell County 52 kmJefferson County 56 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
5:10 am EDT on 24 July 2017 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) W of Knoxville, TN · earthquakes near Knoxville
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Knox County, 12 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3358 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) W of Knoxville, TN, at 5:10 am EDT on 24 July 2017 (09:10 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Farragut, Louisville, Alcoa, Eagleton Village, Clinton, Oak Ridge.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 35.9413, -84.0497. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Knox County, TN 12 km (7 mi) ENE earthquakes near Knox County
Anderson County, TN 23 km (15 mi) NW earthquakes near Anderson County
Blount County, TN 30 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Blount County
Loudon County, TN 33 km (21 mi) SW earthquakes near Loudon County
Union County, TN 43 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Union County
Roane County, TN 44 km (27 mi) WSW earthquakes near Roane County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km NE of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  2. 2.2 9 km SSE of Coalfield, Tennessee
  3. 1.7 1 km N of Huntsville, Tennessee
  4. 2.7 2 km NE of Maryville, Tennessee
  5. 3.0 5 km ESE of Mascot, Tennessee
  6. 2.6 4 km W of Blaine, Tennessee
  7. 1.5 10 km ENE of Kingston, Tennessee
  8. 1.8 3 km ESE of Garland, Tennessee
  9. 2.3 4 km WSW of Seymour, Tennessee
  10. 2.2 3 km S of Blaine, Tennessee
  11. 2.1 7 km WSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  12. 2.1 4 km ENE of Vonore, Tennessee
  13. 1.7 8 km SSE of Friendsville, Tennessee
  14. 1.8 8 km NNE of Louisville, Tennessee
  15. 1.7 6 km SW of Tellico Village, 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.