QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Seymour, TN

USGS: 3 km NNE of Seymour, Tennessee

22 km (14 mi) ESE of Knoxville, TN

3:51 pm EDT, Sep 2, 2017 · · 15 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Knox County 22 kmSevier County 22 kmJefferson County 28 kmBlount County 32 kmUnion County 42 kmGrainger County 44 kmSwain County 45 kmAnderson County 49 kmHamblen County 52 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
3:51 pm EDT on 2 September 2017 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) NNE of Seymour, TN · earthquakes near Seymour
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Knox County, 22 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3317 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) NNE of Seymour, TN, at 3:51 pm EDT on 2 September 2017 (19:51 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sevierville, Mascot, Wildwood, Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, Eagleton Village.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 35.9195, -83.7120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Knox County, TN 22 km (14 mi) WNW earthquakes near Knox County
Sevier County, TN 22 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Sevier County
Jefferson County, TN 28 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Jefferson County
Blount County, TN 32 km (20 mi) SW earthquakes near Blount County
Union County, TN 42 km (26 mi) NNW earthquakes near Union County
Grainger County, TN 44 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Grainger County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 1 km ENE of Maryville, Tennessee
  2. 2.4 7 km SW of Mascot, Tennessee
  3. 2.6 7 km WNW of Farragut, Tennessee
  4. 1.9 4 km SSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  5. 1.8 1 km WNW of Eagleton Village, Tennessee
  6. 2.0 3 km SSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  7. 2.1 3 km SSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  8. 2.0 0 km W of Maryville, Tennessee
  9. 2.4 2 km SSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  10. 2.3 0 km WSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  11. 3.4 7 km NE of Maynardville, Tennessee
  12. 2.0 8 km SE of Rutledge, Tennessee
  13. 2.2 1 km SSW of Morristown, Tennessee
  14. 2.5 3 km E of Rutledge, Tennessee
  15. 2.5 3 km E of Rutledge, 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.