QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Tennessee-North Carolina border region

79 km (49 mi) SE of Knoxville, TN

· 0.0 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Swain County 20 kmHaywood County 24 kmJackson County 30 kmSevier County 37 kmCocke County 44 kmMacon County 45 kmTransylvania County 53 kmGraham County 57 kmJefferson County 59 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
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
16 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Swain County, 20 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1281 days ago

A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded at Tennessee-North Carolina border region at 05:19 UTC on 2023-01-19. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cherokee, Maggie Valley, Sylva, Bryson City, Cove Creek, Hazelwood.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 51 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 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 35.5367, -83.2495. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Swain County, NC 20 km (12 mi) W earthquakes near Swain County
Haywood County, NC 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Haywood County
Jackson County, NC 30 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Jackson County
Sevier County, TN 37 km (23 mi) NW earthquakes near Sevier County
Cocke County, TN 44 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Cocke County
Macon County, NC 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Macon County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 7 km SSW of Canton, North Carolina
  2. 2.1 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  3. 1.8 8 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  4. 2.0 7 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  5. 2.1 8 km S of West Canton, North Carolina
  6. 1.9 7 km SSE of Clyde, North Carolina
  7. 1.9 4 km N of West Canton, North Carolina
  8. 2.3 4 km N of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
  9. 1.8 8 km NNW of Bryson City, North Carolina
  10. 2.2 10 km W of Forest Hills, North Carolina
  11. 2.6 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  12. 1.8 9 km SW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  13. 2.1 1 km SW of Sevierville, Tennessee
  14. 2.0 6 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  15. 2.5 4 km SSE of Sevierville, 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.