QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Tennessee

Yes. A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded in Tennessee, 41 km (25 mi) SSW of Knoxville, TN, at 9:55 pm EDT on 21 October 2022 (01:55 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

41 km (25 mi) SSW of Knoxville, TN

· 14 km deep · released about 28 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loudon County 13 kmMonroe County 25 kmBlount County 25 kmRoane County 36 kmKnox County 43 kmMcMinn County 47 kmGraham County 49 kmAnderson County 50 kmMeigs County 58 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 2.0 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Loudon County, 13 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1478 days ago

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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Greenback, Tellico Village, Vonore, Loudon, Lenoir City, Louisville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 28 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 540,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 380,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 34× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 28 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 4,300 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 35.6673, -84.1983. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loudon County, TN 13 km (8 mi) NW earthquakes near Loudon County
Monroe County, TN 25 km (15 mi) S earthquakes near Monroe County
Blount County, TN 25 km (16 mi) E earthquakes near Blount County
Roane County, TN 36 km (22 mi) NW earthquakes near Roane County
Knox County, TN 43 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Knox County
McMinn County, TN 47 km (29 mi) SW earthquakes near McMinn 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. 2.3 1 km NW of Niota, Tennessee
  2. 1.7 7 km SW of Maryville, Tennessee
  3. 2.1 7 km SW of Maryville, Tennessee
  4. 2.3 7 km SW of Maryville, Tennessee
  5. 2.0 0 km WSW of Alcoa, Tennessee
  6. 1.8 5 km NNE of Niota, Tennessee
  7. 2.0 5 km S of Englewood, Tennessee
  8. 1.7 2 km SSE of Philadelphia, Tennessee
  9. 1.9 3 km N of Madisonville, Tennessee
  10. 1.8 11 km SW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  11. 1.6 7 km W of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  12. 1.9 11 km SE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  13. 2.0 5 km NW of Madisonville, Tennessee
  14. 2.2 11 km SE of Townsend, Tennessee
  15. 1.6 6 km E of Oak Ridge, 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.