QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

11 km SSW of Benton, Tennessee

· 14 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Polk County 14 kmBradley County 17 kmMurray County 31 kmWhitfield County 39 kmMcMinn County 39 kmFannin County 41 kmCatoosa County 45 kmHamilton County 47 kmGilmer County 48 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Polk County, 14 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2101 days ago

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 35.0748, -84.6942. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Polk County, TN 14 km (9 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Polk County
Bradley County, TN 17 km (11 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Bradley County
Murray County, GA 31 km (19 mi) N of here earthquakes near Murray County
Whitfield County, GA 39 km (24 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Whitfield County
McMinn County, TN 39 km (25 mi) S of here earthquakes near McMinn County
Fannin County, GA 41 km (26 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Fannin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km NW of Eton, Georgia
  2. 1.9 17 km SSE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  3. 2.1 13 km E of Benton, Tennessee
  4. 1.7 4 km W of Etowah, Tennessee
  5. 2.4 1 km SE of Etowah, Tennessee
  6. 2.3 8 km W of Tunnel Hill, Georgia
  7. 1.7 8 km ENE of Wildwood Lake, Tennessee
  8. 2.2 7 km ENE of East Cleveland, Tennessee
  9. 1.5 3 km N of Englewood, Tennessee
  10. 2.0 2 km SSE of Varnell, Georgia
  11. 1.8 Tennessee
  12. 1.9 14 km ENE of Ducktown, Tennessee
  13. 2.2 2 km NW of Eton, Georgia
  14. 2.5 7 km WSW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  15. 2.2 4 km SSE of Lakesite, 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.