QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Rogersville, TN

USGS: 10 km NNW of Rogersville, Tennessee

98 km (61 mi) NE of Knoxville, TN · 47 km (29 mi) W of Kingsport, TN

10:16 pm EDT, Apr 20, 2018 · · 13 km deep · released about 77 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hawkins County 12 kmHancock County 15 kmLee County 25 kmHamblen County 35 kmGreene County 39 kmHarlan County 44 kmGrainger County 46 kmScott County 47 kmClaiborne County 53 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
10:16 pm EDT on 20 April 2018 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) NNW of Rogersville, TN · earthquakes near Rogersville
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Hawkins County, 12 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3086 days ago

A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) NNW of Rogersville, TN, at 10:16 pm EDT on 20 April 2018 (02:16 UTC). 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sneedville, Surgoinsville, Bean Station.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 77 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 36.4877, -83.0625. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hawkins County, TN 12 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Hawkins County
Hancock County, TN 15 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Hancock County
Lee County, VA 25 km (15 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lee County
Hamblen County, TN 35 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near Hamblen County
Greene County, TN 39 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near Greene County
Harlan County, KY 44 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near Harlan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 1 km W of Rutledge, Tennessee
  2. 2.1 5 km NE of Clinchport, Virginia
  3. 2.3 2 km ENE of Greeneville, Tennessee
  4. 2.4 5 km NNE of Bean Station, Tennessee
  5. 2.3 8 km NNW of Greeneville, Tennessee
  6. 2.4 5 km ENE of Harrogate, Tennessee
  7. 2.3 2 km ENE of Rutledge, Tennessee
  8. 2.1 9 km ENE of Rutledge, Tennessee
  9. 2.1 7 km ENE of Rutledge, Tennessee
  10. 2.4 2 km ESE of Rutledge, Tennessee
  11. 1.9 1 km SW of Fall Branch, Tennessee
  12. 1.8 4 km S of New Tazewell, Tennessee
  13. 1.9 1 km NE of Rutledge, Tennessee
  14. 2.2 9 km SSW of Cumberland, Kentucky
  15. 2.4 Kentucky-Tennessee border region

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.