Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Sweetwater, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Sweetwater in the 24 hours to 9:42 am EST (14:42 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Sweetwater, TN, at 6:20 am EDT on 25 May 2021 (10:20 UTC), 18 km deep.
USGS: 5 km E of Sweetwater, Tennessee
59 km (37 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN
- When
- 6:20 am EDT on 25 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Sweetwater, TN · earthquakes near Sweetwater
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Loudon County, 18 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1996 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sweetwater, TN
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Sweetwater, 5 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, Tellico Village, Loudon, Greenback, Athens.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 14,000 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 35.5923, -84.4047. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudon County, TN | 18 km (11 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Loudon County |
| Monroe County, TN | 21 km (13 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| McMinn County, TN | 27 km (17 mi) | SW | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Roane County, TN | 30 km (19 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Roane County |
| Meigs County, TN | 38 km (24 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Blount County, TN | 45 km (28 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Blount County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 Tennessee
- 1.8 4 km NE of Vonore, Tennessee
- 2.2 4 km ENE of Madisonville, Tennessee
- 1.8 4 km SW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 2.0 Tennessee
- 2.5 2 km N of Farragut, Tennessee
- 1.9 8 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
- 2.5 7 km WSW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 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
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.