QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.4mw

12 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee

· 7.9 km deep · released about 60 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Meigs County 13 kmRhea County 20 kmMcMinn County 23 kmRoane County 32 kmLoudon County 40 kmBledsoe County 43 kmCumberland County 45 kmMonroe County 47 kmBradley 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
Magnitude
M 4.4 (mw)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
8502 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Meigs County, 13 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 260 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 8502 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.4 about 60 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× more

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.

Where

Epicentre 35.6123, -84.7320. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Meigs County, TN 13 km (8 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Meigs County
Rhea County, TN 20 km (12 mi) E of here earthquakes near Rhea County
McMinn County, TN 23 km (14 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near McMinn County
Roane County, TN 32 km (20 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Roane County
Loudon County, TN 40 km (25 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Loudon County
Bledsoe County, TN 43 km (27 mi) E of here earthquakes near Bledsoe County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 8 km E of Pikeville, Tennessee
  2. 1.8 6 km SW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  3. 2.5 6 km ENE of Decatur, Tennessee
  4. 2.0 3 km WNW of Madisonville, Tennessee
  5. 2.1 6 km WNW of Vonore, Tennessee
  6. 2.0 4 km ESE of Huntsville, Tennessee
  7. 2.1 2 km WNW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  8. 1.8 4 km WSW of Graysville, Tennessee
  9. 2.3 6 km SE of Englewood, Tennessee
  10. 1.7 10 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
  11. 1.6 8 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
  12. 1.7 6 km WSW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  13. 1.7 11 km WNW of Loudon, Tennessee
  14. 2.1 2 km W of Hopewell, Tennessee
  15. 2.1 4 km NW of Tellico Plains, 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.