Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Cleveland, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Cleveland in the 24 hours to 6:14 am EST (11:14 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 16 km (10 mi) ENE, at 2:03 am EDT on 3 August 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cleveland
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) east-northeast of Cleveland, TN, at 11:30 am EDT on 5 August 2022 (15:30 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: 7 km ESE of Calhoun, Tennessee
58 km (36 mi) ENE of Chattanooga, TN · 21 km (13 mi) ENE of Cleveland, TN
- When
- 11:30 am EDT on 5 August 2022 ()
- Where
- 23 km (14 mi) east-northeast of Cleveland, TN · earthquakes near Cleveland
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- McMinn County, 17 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1559 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cleveland, TN
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cleveland, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Cleveland, 23 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Benton, Etowah, Athens, Hopewell, East Cleveland, Wildwood Lake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2018-12-12 — about 22,000 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 35.2727, -84.6670. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| McMinn County, TN | 17 km (11 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Polk County, TN | 21 km (13 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Polk County |
| Bradley County, TN | 22 km (14 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Bradley County |
| Meigs County, TN | 30 km (19 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Monroe County, TN | 43 km (26 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| Rhea County, TN | 45 km (28 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Rhea County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 4 km WSW of Decatur, Tennessee
- 2.0 3 km ESE of Etowah, Tennessee
- 1.8 8 km E of Englewood, Tennessee
- 1.9 11 km SW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 1.6 9 km NNW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 2.0 15 km ESE of Wildwood Lake, Tennessee
- 1.9 1 km E of Collegedale, Tennessee
- 1.6 2 km E of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 1.7 14 km E of Benton, Tennessee
- 2.0 0 km S of Niota, Tennessee
- 1.5 2 km NNW of Madisonville, Tennessee
- 1.7 5 km E of Niota, Tennessee
- 2.4 7 km E of Etowah, Tennessee
- 2.2 7 km ENE of Niota, Tennessee
- 2.0 10 km NNW of Dayton, 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.