QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

4 km E of Athens, Tennessee

· 21 km deep · released about 130 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N McMinn County 8 kmMeigs County 26 kmMonroe County 26 kmLoudon County 38 kmPolk County 38 kmRhea County 41 kmBradley County 44 kmRoane County 44 kmCherokee 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
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
McMinn County, 8 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 428 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 130 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 80,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 130 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 35.4502, -84.5402. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
McMinn County, TN 8 km (5 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near McMinn County
Meigs County, TN 26 km (16 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Meigs County
Monroe County, TN 26 km (16 mi) W of here earthquakes near Monroe County
Loudon County, TN 38 km (23 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Loudon County
Polk County, TN 38 km (24 mi) N of here earthquakes near Polk County
Rhea County, TN 41 km (25 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Rhea County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 6 km WNW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
  2. 1.9 4 km W of Etowah, Tennessee
  3. 2.0 2 km SW of Vonore, Tennessee
  4. 2.4 2 km SW of Vonore, Tennessee
  5. 1.5 12 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee
  6. 2.0 3 km ESE of Tellico Village, 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. 2.3 1 km S of Friendsville, Tennessee
  12. 1.8 5 km SSE of Friendsville, Tennessee
  13. 2.4 5 km SSE of Friendsville, Tennessee
  14. 1.8 11 km S of Tellico Plains, Tennessee
  15. 2.3 4 km SSW of Kingston, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2018-12-12 — it released about 900 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.