QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Knoxville, TN

USGS: 2 km W of Friendsville, Tennessee

30 km (19 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN

4:52 pm EST, Nov 7, 2017 · · 16 km deep · released about 29 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loudon County 14 kmBlount County 23 kmKnox County 33 kmRoane County 34 kmMonroe County 36 kmAnderson County 40 kmGraham County 55 kmMcMinn County 56 kmSevier County 57 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
4:52 pm EST on 7 November 2017 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN · earthquakes near Knoxville
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loudon County, 14 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3251 days ago

A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN, at 4:52 pm EST on 7 November 2017 (21:52 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lenoir City, Greenback, Louisville, Tellico Village, Farragut, Loudon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 29 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 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 35.7605, -84.1597. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loudon County, TN 14 km (9 mi) WSW earthquakes near Loudon County
Blount County, TN 23 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Blount County
Knox County, TN 33 km (20 mi) NE earthquakes near Knox County
Roane County, TN 34 km (21 mi) WNW earthquakes near Roane County
Monroe County, TN 36 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near Monroe County
Anderson County, TN 40 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Anderson 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. 2.2 2 km ESE of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  2. 2.3 1 km E of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  3. 1.7 3 km S of Huntsville, Tennessee
  4. 2.3 2 km NE of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  5. 2.2 9 km SSE of Coalfield, Tennessee
  6. 1.7 1 km N of Huntsville, Tennessee
  7. 2.7 2 km NE of Maryville, Tennessee
  8. 2.8 13 km SE of Vonore, Tennessee
  9. 2.2 2 km SSE of Englewood, Tennessee
  10. 2.1 2 km SSE of Englewood, Tennessee
  11. 1.5 10 km ENE of Kingston, Tennessee
  12. 1.8 3 km ESE of Garland, Tennessee
  13. 2.3 4 km WSW of Seymour, Tennessee
  14. 2.7 12 km NW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  15. 2.1 7 km WSW of Maryville, 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.