QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

7 km WSW of Bryson City, North Carolina

· 13 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Swain County 18 kmGraham County 28 kmMacon County 31 kmJackson County 39 kmSevier County 42 kmClay County 45 kmBlount County 47 kmHaywood County 52 kmCherokee County 57 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 2.5 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
24 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Swain County, 18 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 667 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 24 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 35.4138, -83.5285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Swain County, NC 18 km (11 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Swain County
Graham County, NC 28 km (18 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Graham County
Macon County, NC 31 km (19 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Macon County
Jackson County, NC 39 km (24 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Jackson County
Sevier County, TN 42 km (26 mi) S of here earthquakes near Sevier County
Clay County, NC 45 km (28 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Clay County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  2. 2.2 10 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  3. 2.3 4 km N of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
  4. 1.8 8 km NNW of Bryson City, North Carolina
  5. 2.2 10 km W of Forest Hills, North Carolina
  6. 2.6 10 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  7. 2.0 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  8. 1.9 20 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  9. 2.2 20 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  10. 4.1 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  11. 1.8 9 km SW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  12. 2.1 1 km SW of Sevierville, Tennessee
  13. 2.0 6 km SSW of Dillsboro, North Carolina
  14. 2.5 4 km SSE of Sevierville, Tennessee
  15. 2.2 11 km SE of Townsend, 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.