QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

16 km WSW of Bryson City, North Carolina

· 0.1 km deep · released about 27 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Graham County 19 kmSwain County 24 kmMacon County 33 kmClay County 40 kmBlount County 42 kmSevier County 44 kmJackson County 47 kmCherokee County 49 kmTowns 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 2.0 (md)
Depth
0.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Graham County, 19 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 983 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 27 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 560,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 35× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 27 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 35.3992, -83.6262. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Graham County, NC 19 km (12 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Graham County
Swain County, NC 24 km (15 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Swain County
Macon County, NC 33 km (21 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Macon County
Clay County, NC 40 km (25 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Clay County
Blount County, TN 42 km (26 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Blount County
Sevier County, TN 44 km (27 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Sevier County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 10 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  2. 2.3 4 km N of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
  3. 1.8 8 km NNW of Bryson City, North Carolina
  4. 2.2 10 km W of Forest Hills, North Carolina
  5. 2.6 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  6. 1.8 13 km SSE of Greenback, Tennessee
  7. 2.2 13 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  8. 2.0 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  9. 1.8 5 km SW of Maryville, Tennessee
  10. 1.9 20 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  11. 2.2 20 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  12. 1.8 13 km ESE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  13. 4.1 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  14. 2.1 16 km SE of Vonore, Tennessee
  15. 1.8 9 km SW of Dillsboro, 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.