QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Tennessee-Virginia border region

12 km (7 mi) NW of Johnson City, TN · 143 km (89 mi) ENE of Knoxville, TN

· 21 km deep · released about 31 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washington County 15 kmSullivan County 17 kmCarter County 34 kmBristol city 35 kmScott County 35 kmUnicoi County 36 kmHawkins County 42 kmGreene County 44 kmMitchell 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
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Washington County, 15 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2953 days ago

A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded at Tennessee-Virginia border region at 09:16 UTC on 2018-09-02. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Gray, Spurgeon, Oak Grove, Colonial Heights, Midway, Jonesborough.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.4235, -82.4617. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Washington County, TN 15 km (9 mi) SSW earthquakes near Washington County
Sullivan County, TN 17 km (11 mi) NE earthquakes near Sullivan County
Carter County, TN 34 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Carter County
Bristol city, VA 35 km (22 mi) NE earthquakes near Bristol city
Scott County, VA 35 km (22 mi) NNW earthquakes near Scott County
Unicoi County, TN 36 km (22 mi) S earthquakes near Unicoi County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 5 km NE of Clinchport, Virginia
  2. 2.3 2 km ENE of Greeneville, Tennessee
  3. 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
  4. 2.3 8 km NNW of Greeneville, Tennessee
  5. 1.9 1 km SW of Fall Branch, Tennessee
  6. 2.2 8 km WNW of Roan Mountain, Tennessee
  7. 2.0 9 km NNE of Mosheim, Tennessee
  8. 2.6 9 km SSW of Abingdon, Virginia
  9. 1.6 7 km SSW of Banner Hill, Tennessee
  10. 2.4 9 km SSW of Banner Hill, Tennessee
  11. 2.8 8 km SW of Banner Hill, Tennessee
  12. 2.4 6 km NW of Greeneville, Tennessee
  13. 2.3 6 km N of Greeneville, Tennessee
  14. 2.5 11 km S of Tusculum, Tennessee
  15. 1.9 6 km ENE of Surgoinsville, 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

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