Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Tennessee
Yes. A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Tennessee, 77 km (48 mi) NE of Chattanooga, TN, at 10:06 am EST on 12 December 2018 (15:06 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 94 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
77 km (48 mi) NE of Chattanooga, TN · 49 km (30 mi) NNE of Cleveland, TN
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 94 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Meigs County, 13 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2890 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Decatur, TN
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 16 km (10 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: Decatur 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2018-12-12 — about 7,700 times the energy of this one.
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 35.6032, -84.7173. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meigs County, TN | 13 km (8 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Rhea County, TN | 21 km (13 mi) | W | earthquakes near Rhea County |
| McMinn County, TN | 22 km (14 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Roane County, TN | 32 km (20 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Roane County |
| Loudon County, TN | 39 km (24 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Loudon County |
| Bledsoe County, TN | 44 km (27 mi) | W | earthquakes near Bledsoe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 4 km WSW of Tellico Village, TN
- 2.3 4 km N of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 2.0 5 km E of East Cleveland, Tennessee
- 2.0 10 km ENE of Kingston, Tennessee
- 1.6 8 km N of Madisonville, Tennessee
- 2.3 8 km E of Pikeville, Tennessee
- 1.8 6 km SW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 2.5 6 km ENE of Decatur, Tennessee
- 2.0 3 km WNW of Madisonville, Tennessee
- 2.1 6 km WNW of Vonore, Tennessee
- 2.0 4 km ESE of Huntsville, Tennessee
- 2.1 2 km WNW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
- 1.8 4 km WSW of Graysville, Tennessee
- 2.3 6 km SE of Englewood, Tennessee
- 1.7 10 km SSE of Vonore, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.