mine collapse · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1md
Earthquake near Crossville, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Crossville in the 24 hours to 2:29 am CST (08:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 104 km (65 mi) ESE, at 8:04 am CDT on 10 May 2025, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 45,935 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Crossville
No: USGS classifies this as a mine collapse, not an earthquake. A magnitude 3.1 mine collapse was recorded 14 km (9 mi) southeast of Crossville, TN, at 6:57 am CDT on 13 August 2021 (11:57 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SSW of Crab Orchard, Tennessee
86 km (53 mi) W of Knoxville, TN
- When
- 6:57 am CDT on 13 August 2021 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) southeast of Crossville, TN · earthquakes near Crossville
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (md)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Cumberland County, 12 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1839 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Crossville, TN
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Crossville, TN. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 118 km (73 mi) from the epicentre. In Crossville, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Decatur 41 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
USGS catalogues this as mine collapse, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2018-12-12 — about 92 times the energy of this one.
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 35.8767, -84.8982. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland County, TN | 12 km (8 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Cumberland County |
| Rhea County, TN | 31 km (19 mi) | S | earthquakes near Rhea County |
| Roane County, TN | 34 km (21 mi) | E | earthquakes near Roane County |
| Morgan County, TN | 37 km (23 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Morgan County |
| Meigs County, TN | 41 km (26 mi) | S | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Bledsoe County, TN | 42 km (26 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Bledsoe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
25 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 10 km WNW of Philadelphia, Tennessee
- 2.2 10 km WNW of Philadelphia, Tennessee
- 2.2 2 km W of Dayton, Tennessee
- 2.1 4 km NNW of Dayton, Tennessee
- 2.2 13 km S of Midtown, Tennessee
- 1.8 6 km SW of Decatur, Tennessee
- 1.6 9 km SW of Spring City, Tennessee
- 2.3 1 km NW of Niota, Tennessee
- 1.8 5 km NNE of Niota, Tennessee
- 2.2 9 km NNW of Graysville, Tennessee
- 1.8 4 km WSW of Decatur, Tennessee
- 2.6 9 km NNW of Graysville, Tennessee
- 2.0 10 km NNW of Dayton, Tennessee
- 1.9 10 km S of Spring City, Tennessee
- 1.9 3 km N of Niota, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.