QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

8 km SW of Banner Hill, Tennessee

· 2.9 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Unicoi County 7 kmYancey County 25 kmWashington County 26 kmMitchell County 29 kmMadison County 30 kmGreene County 35 kmCarter County 40 kmAvery County 51 kmBuncombe County 51 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
2.9 km below the surface
Felt
142 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Unicoi County, 7 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1982 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 142 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.0648, -82.4822. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Unicoi County, TN 7 km (4 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Unicoi County
Yancey County, NC 25 km (16 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Yancey County
Washington County, TN 26 km (16 mi) S of here earthquakes near Washington County
Mitchell County, NC 29 km (18 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Mitchell County
Madison County, NC 30 km (19 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Madison County
Greene County, TN 35 km (22 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Greene County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  2. 1.7 8 km ENE of Weaverville, North Carolina
  3. 1.9 8 km E of Weaverville, North Carolina
  4. 1.7 6 km WSW of Newland, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 4 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  6. 2.1 7 km NW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  7. 2.3 2 km ENE of Greeneville, Tennessee
  8. 1.8 8 km W of Bakersville, North Carolina
  9. 2.3 8 km NNW of Greeneville, Tennessee
  10. 1.9 1 km SW of Fall Branch, Tennessee
  11. 2.2 8 km WNW of Roan Mountain, Tennessee
  12. 1.8 12 km N of Old Fort, North Carolina
  13. 2.0 7 km N of Spruce Pine, North Carolina
  14. 1.8 5 km NNW of Weaverville, North Carolina
  15. 1.9 5 km N of Weaverville, North Carolina

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.