QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Athens, TN

USGS: 4 km ENE of Niota, Tennessee

70 km (43 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN · 51 km (32 mi) NE of Cleveland, TN

10:12 pm EDT, Aug 11, 2017 · · 15 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Athens Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N McMinn County 16 kmMonroe County 24 kmLoudon County 28 kmMeigs County 29 kmRoane County 36 kmRhea County 42 kmPolk County 47 kmBradley County 53 kmBlount County 55 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
10:12 pm EDT on 11 August 2017 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) NE of Athens, TN · earthquakes near Athens
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
McMinn County, 16 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3339 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) NE of Athens, TN, at 10:12 pm EDT on 11 August 2017 (02:12 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sweetwater, Madisonville, Etowah, Vonore, Decatur, Loudon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 760,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 68× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 35.5275, -84.4963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
McMinn County, TN 16 km (10 mi) SW earthquakes near McMinn County
Monroe County, TN 24 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near Monroe County
Loudon County, TN 28 km (18 mi) NE earthquakes near Loudon County
Meigs County, TN 29 km (18 mi) W earthquakes near Meigs County
Roane County, TN 36 km (22 mi) N earthquakes near Roane County
Rhea County, TN 42 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Rhea 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. 1.8 10 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  2. 2.5 11 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  3. 1.5 10 km ENE of Kingston, Tennessee
  4. 1.8 Tennessee
  5. 1.7 11 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  6. 2.1 10 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  7. 1.9 11 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  8. 3.0 10 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  9. 4.4 12 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  10. 2.7 12 km NW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  11. 2.2 4 km SW of Rockwood, Tennessee
  12. 2.1 7 km WSW of Maryville, Tennessee
  13. 2.1 4 km ENE of Vonore, Tennessee
  14. 1.7 8 km SSE of Friendsville, Tennessee
  15. 1.9 5 km N of Benton, 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.