Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Spring City, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Spring City in the 24 hours to 8:39 am EST (13:39 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 15 km (9 mi) SE, at 7:25 pm EDT on 2 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Spring City
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) southwest of Spring City, TN, at 9:16 pm EDT on 22 October 2024 (01:16 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 9 km SW of Spring City, Tennessee
69 km (43 mi) NNE of Chattanooga, TN · 51 km (32 mi) N of Cleveland, TN
- When
- 9:16 pm EDT on 22 October 2024 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) southwest of Spring City, TN · earthquakes near Spring City
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Rhea County, 4 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 749 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Spring City, TN
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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 Spring City, 10 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: Dayton, Decatur, Pikeville, Graysville, Lake Tansi.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 35.6380, -84.9467. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhea County, TN | 4 km (3 mi) | S | earthquakes near Rhea County |
| Meigs County, TN | 18 km (11 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Bledsoe County, TN | 24 km (15 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Bledsoe County |
| Cumberland County, TN | 35 km (22 mi) | N | earthquakes near Cumberland County |
| McMinn County, TN | 38 km (24 mi) | SE | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Roane County, TN | 45 km (28 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Roane County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 1 km SSW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.9 4 km ENE of Riceville, Tennessee
- 1.7 1 km ENE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.8 11 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
- 2.4 10 km NNE of Decatur, Tennessee
- 1.7 6 km WNW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.9 4 km W of Etowah, Tennessee
- 2.0 6 km WSW of Riceville, Tennessee
- 2.3 4 km SSW of Kingston, Tennessee
- 2.1 5 km S of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 2.2 10 km WNW of Philadelphia, Tennessee
- 1.9 5 km SSW of Riceville, Tennessee
- 1.9 8 km WSW of Etowah, Tennessee
- 2.2 10 km WNW of Philadelphia, Tennessee
- 2.0 6 km ENE of Niota, 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.