QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Kentucky-Tennessee border region

· 17 km deep · released about 530 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Union County 14 kmClaiborne County 15 kmGrainger County 24 kmCampbell County 37 kmBell County 39 kmJefferson County 46 kmKnox County 47 kmHamblen County 47 kmHancock County 49 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
9 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Union County, 14 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1161 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 530 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 29,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 20,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 530 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 36.3827, -83.7465. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Union County, TN 14 km (8 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Union County
Claiborne County, TN 15 km (9 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Claiborne County
Grainger County, TN 24 km (15 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Grainger County
Campbell County, TN 37 km (23 mi) E of here earthquakes near Campbell County
Bell County, KY 39 km (24 mi) S of here earthquakes near Bell County
Jefferson County, TN 46 km (29 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Jefferson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 1 km W of Rutledge, Tennessee
  2. 2.0 4 km WNW of Mascot, Tennessee
  3. 1.9 3 km NW of Mascot, Tennessee
  4. 2.1 2 km S of Blaine, Tennessee
  5. 1.9 5 km NNW of Mascot, Tennessee
  6. 1.9 9 km WSW of Mascot, Tennessee
  7. 2.1 5 km ESE of Pineville, Kentucky
  8. 2.6 11 km SW of Middlesboro, Kentucky
  9. 1.8 0 km ESE of Knoxville, Tennessee
  10. 2.2 10 km ENE of Knoxville, Tennessee
  11. 2.3 11 km ESE of Mascot, Tennessee
  12. 2.0 8 km ENE of Knoxville, Tennessee
  13. 2.3 10 km S of Jellico, Tennessee
  14. 2.3 16 km N of Maynardville, Tennessee
  15. 2.4 5 km NNE of Bean Station, 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.