QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

6 km S of Sweetwater, Tennessee

· 10.0 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N McMinn County 19 kmMonroe County 22 kmLoudon County 26 kmMeigs County 32 kmRoane County 35 kmRhea County 45 kmPolk County 48 kmBlount County 51 kmBradley County 56 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
10.0 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Nearest
McMinn County, 19 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2215 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 35.5392, -84.4622. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
McMinn County, TN 19 km (12 mi) NE of here earthquakes near McMinn County
Monroe County, TN 22 km (14 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Monroe County
Loudon County, TN 26 km (16 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Loudon County
Meigs County, TN 32 km (20 mi) E of here earthquakes near Meigs County
Roane County, TN 35 km (22 mi) S of here earthquakes near Roane County
Rhea County, TN 45 km (28 mi) E of here earthquakes near Rhea County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 5 km SSW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  2. 1.9 8 km SSE of Etowah, Tennessee
  3. 1.5 12 km ESE of Madisonville, Tennessee
  4. 1.6 7 km ESE of Vonore, Tennessee
  5. 1.8 4 km W of Athens, Tennessee
  6. 2.0 5 km E of Riceville, Tennessee
  7. 2.1 10 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
  8. 1.6 13 km E of Benton, Tennessee
  9. 2.7 19 km NNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  10. 1.9 7 km S of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  11. 1.9 6 km E of Friendsville, Tennessee
  12. 1.5 14 km SE of Vonore, Tennessee
  13. 2.8 6 km SE of Englewood, Tennessee
  14. 1.5 5 km ENE of Niota, Tennessee
  15. 2.0 3 km SSW of Tellico Village, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2018-12-12 — it released about 3,200 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.