QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Lenoir City, TN

No earthquake was likely felt in Lenoir City in the 24 hours to 9:16 am EST (14:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 11 km (7 mi) WNW, at 1:54 am EDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lenoir City

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Lenoir City, TN, at 12:03 am EST on 25 January 2019 (05:03 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 1 km N of Huntsville, Tennessee

36 km (22 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN

12:03 am EST, Jan 25, 2019 · · 15 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loudon County 6 kmRoane County 23 kmBlount County 34 kmAnderson County 38 kmMonroe County 38 kmKnox County 38 kmMcMinn County 51 kmMorgan County 51 kmMeigs County 57 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
12:03 am EST on 25 January 2019 ()
Where
2 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Lenoir City, TN · earthquakes near Lenoir City
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loudon County, 6 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2847 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Lenoir City, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Loudon, Tellico Village, Farragut, Greenback, Louisville, Vonore.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 11,000 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 35.7865, -84.2802. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loudon County, TN 6 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Loudon County
Roane County, TN 23 km (14 mi) WNW earthquakes near Roane County
Blount County, TN 34 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Blount County
Anderson County, TN 38 km (23 mi) NNE earthquakes near Anderson County
Monroe County, TN 38 km (23 mi) S earthquakes near Monroe County
Knox County, TN 38 km (24 mi) NE earthquakes near Knox County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 5 km E of Greenback, Tennessee
  2. 1.9 2 km S of Knoxville, Tennessee
  3. 2.5 6 km ENE of Decatur, Tennessee
  4. 2.0 3 km WNW of Madisonville, Tennessee
  5. 2.2 4 km E of Maryville, Tennessee
  6. 2.1 6 km WNW of Vonore, Tennessee
  7. 2.0 4 km ESE of Huntsville, Tennessee
  8. 2.2 5 km ENE of Wildwood, Tennessee
  9. 2.1 2 km WNW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  10. 2.3 1 km ESE of Farragut, Tennessee
  11. 2.3 6 km SE of Englewood, Tennessee
  12. 1.7 10 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
  13. 1.6 8 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
  14. 1.7 6 km WSW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  15. 1.7 11 km WNW of Loudon, 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.