Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Athens, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Athens in the 24 hours to 7:29 am EST (12:29 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 6:30 am EDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Athens
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) northeast of Athens, TN, at 4:02 pm EST on 18 February 2024 (21:02 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 5 km E of Niota, Tennessee
70 km (44 mi) SW of Knoxville, TN · 51 km (32 mi) NE of Cleveland, TN
- When
- 4:02 pm EST on 18 February 2024 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) northeast of Athens, TN · earthquakes near Athens
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- McMinn County, 15 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 996 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Athens, TN
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Athens, 12 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: Sweetwater, Madisonville, Etowah, Vonore, Decatur, Loudon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 11,000 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 35.5107, -84.4860. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| McMinn County, TN | 15 km (10 mi) | SW | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Monroe County, TN | 23 km (14 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| Loudon County, TN | 29 km (18 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Loudon County |
| Meigs County, TN | 30 km (19 mi) | W | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Roane County, TN | 38 km (23 mi) | N | earthquakes near Roane County |
| Rhea County, TN | 43 km (27 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Rhea County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 13 km ESE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 2.1 0 km S of Loudon, Tennessee
- 1.9 2 km NE of Niota, Tennessee
- 4.1 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
- 2.0 5 km NE of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
- 1.6 6 km NW of Madisonville, Tennessee
- 1.6 3 km ENE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 2.1 12 km E of Benton, Tennessee
- 1.6 7 km WSW of Tellico Village, Tennessee
- 2.0 6 km SSE of Vonore, Tennessee
- 1.7 7 km ESE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.8 7 km ESE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.8 5 km S of Louisville, Tennessee
- 1.8 6 km SSE of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 2.3 6 km SW of Maryville, 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.