QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

5 km ESE of Benton, Tennessee

· 17 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Polk County 8 kmBradley County 23 kmMcMinn County 30 kmFannin County 41 kmMurray County 42 kmMeigs County 44 kmMonroe County 45 kmCherokee County 49 kmWhitfield County 52 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 1.9 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Polk County, 8 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 604 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 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 50× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 35.1568, -84.6020. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Polk County, TN 8 km (5 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Polk County
Bradley County, TN 23 km (15 mi) E of here earthquakes near Bradley County
McMinn County, TN 30 km (19 mi) S of here earthquakes near McMinn County
Fannin County, GA 41 km (26 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Fannin County
Murray County, GA 42 km (26 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Murray County
Meigs County, TN 44 km (27 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Meigs County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 8 km E of Englewood, Tennessee
  2. 1.8 8 km E of Englewood, Tennessee
  3. 2.0 8 km SSE of Etowah, Tennessee
  4. 2.3 17 km SSW of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  5. 2.4 18 km N of Ducktown, Tennessee
  6. 1.9 4 km W of Etowah, Tennessee
  7. 2.1 7 km ESE of Benton, Tennessee
  8. 2.0 8 km E of Benton, Tennessee
  9. 2.0 6 km WSW of Riceville, Tennessee
  10. 2.4 5 km E of Etowah, Tennessee
  11. 1.8 11 km S of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  12. 2.1 5 km S of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  13. 2.1 3 km SW of Varnell, Georgia
  14. 1.8 4 km E of Madisonville, Tennessee
  15. 2.5 5 km E of Madisonville, 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.