Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Sweetwater, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Sweetwater in the 24 hours to 9:43 am EST (14:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 29 km (18 mi) NNE, at 1:54 am EDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sweetwater
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Sweetwater, TN, at 10:17 pm EDT on 16 April 2021 (02:17 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 5 km ENE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
57 km (35 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN
- When
- 10:17 pm EDT on 16 April 2021 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Sweetwater, TN · earthquakes near Sweetwater
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Loudon County, 16 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2034 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sweetwater, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Sweetwater, 6 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: Madisonville, Vonore, Loudon, Tellico Village, Greenback, Lenoir City.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- 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 35.6130, -84.3980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudon County, TN | 16 km (10 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Loudon County |
| Monroe County, TN | 23 km (14 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| Roane County, TN | 28 km (18 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Roane County |
| McMinn County, TN | 29 km (18 mi) | SW | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Meigs County, TN | 39 km (25 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Blount County, TN | 44 km (27 mi) | E | earthquakes near Blount County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 6 km NNW of Philadelphia, Tennessee
- 1.9 6 km E of Vonore, Tennessee
- 1.9 15 km WNW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.5 5 km E of Niota, Tennessee
- 2.0 11 km NNE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 2.4 0 km NE of Alcoa, Tennessee
- 2.0 8 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
- 1.5 7 km ESE of Calhoun, Tennessee
- 2.2 1 km SE of Alcoa, Tennessee
- 1.9 3 km ESE of Etowah, Tennessee
- 2.1 1 km SW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
- 1.6 9 km NNW of Decatur, Tennessee
- 1.9 6 km NW of Lenoir City, Tennessee
- 2.6 9 km ENE of Garland, Tennessee
- 2.4 6 km WNW of Niota, 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.