Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9md
Earthquake near Loudon, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Loudon in the 24 hours to 5:11 am EST (10:11 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 14 km (8 mi) N, at 1:54 am EDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Loudon
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Loudon, TN, at 7:12 am EDT on 21 June 2020 (11:12 UTC), 20 km deep.
USGS: 3 km ESE of Loudon, Tennessee
42 km (26 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN
- When
- 7:12 am EDT on 21 June 2020 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Loudon, TN · earthquakes near Loudon
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Loudon County, 2 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2336 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Loudon, TN
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Loudon, TN. No account or email needed.
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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Loudon, 3 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: Tellico Village, Lenoir City, Greenback, Vonore, Sweetwater, Farragut.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 20 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 6,000 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 35.7243, -84.3012. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudon County, TN | 2 km (1 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Loudon County |
| Roane County, TN | 24 km (15 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Roane County |
| Monroe County, TN | 31 km (19 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| Blount County, TN | 34 km (21 mi) | E | earthquakes near Blount County |
| McMinn County, TN | 44 km (27 mi) | SW | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Knox County, TN | 44 km (28 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Knox County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 5 km E of Riceville, Tennessee
- 2.5 Tennessee-North Carolina border region
- 2.1 10 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
- 2.7 19 km NNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
- 1.9 7 km S of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.9 6 km E of Friendsville, Tennessee
- 1.5 14 km SE of Vonore, Tennessee
- 2.4 7 km SE of Knoxville, Tennessee
- 2.8 6 km SE of Englewood, Tennessee
- 1.5 5 km ENE of Niota, Tennessee
- 2.0 3 km SSW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
- 2.1 11 km S of Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- 1.9 7 km WSW of Maryville, Tennessee
- 2.2 5 km SE of Knoxville, Tennessee
- 2.0 3 km W of Knoxville, 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.