QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Vonore, TN

No earthquake was likely felt in Vonore in the 24 hours to 7:29 am EST (12:29 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 6:50 am EDT on 12 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Vonore

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Vonore, TN, at 5:06 am EST on 29 February 2024 (10:06 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 7 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee

54 km (34 mi) SSW of Knoxville, TN

5:06 am EST, Feb 29, 2024 · · 13 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monroe County 10 kmLoudon County 25 kmBlount County 31 kmGraham County 39 kmMcMinn County 39 kmRoane County 45 kmCherokee County 46 kmMeigs County 55 kmPolk 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
5:06 am EST on 29 February 2024 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Vonore, TN · earthquakes near Vonore
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monroe County, 10 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 986 days ago

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 Vonore, 7 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: Madisonville, Greenback, Tellico Village, Sweetwater, Loudon, Lenoir City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 14,000 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 35.5312, -84.2042. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monroe County, TN 10 km (6 mi) SSW earthquakes near Monroe County
Loudon County, TN 25 km (15 mi) NNW earthquakes near Loudon County
Blount County, TN 31 km (19 mi) NE earthquakes near Blount County
Graham County, NC 39 km (25 mi) ESE earthquakes near Graham County
McMinn County, TN 39 km (25 mi) WSW earthquakes near McMinn County
Roane County, TN 45 km (28 mi) NW earthquakes near Roane County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 20 km WNW of Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina
  2. 2.6 2 km E of Greenback, Tennessee
  3. 1.8 2 km S of Niota, Tennessee
  4. 1.8 13 km ESE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  5. 2.1 0 km S of Loudon, Tennessee
  6. 1.9 2 km NE of Niota, Tennessee
  7. 4.1 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  8. 2.0 5 km NE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  9. 1.6 6 km NW of Madisonville, Tennessee
  10. 1.6 3 km ENE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  11. 2.1 12 km E of Benton, Tennessee
  12. 1.6 7 km WSW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
  13. 2.0 6 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
  14. 1.7 7 km ESE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  15. 1.8 7 km ESE of Sweetwater, 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.