Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Athens, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Athens in the 24 hours to 4:54 am EST (09:54 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 19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Athens, TN, at 7:18 pm EDT on 10 October 2026 (23:18 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 8 km ESE of Englewood, Tennessee
76 km (47 mi) SSW of Knoxville, TN · 49 km (30 mi) ENE of Cleveland, TN
- When
- 7:18 pm EDT on 10 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Athens, TN · earthquakes near Athens
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monroe County, 15 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 31 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Athens, TN
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Athens, TN. No account or email needed.
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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Athens, 19 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: Etowah, Madisonville, Sweetwater, Vonore.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 10 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 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 12,000 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 35.3917, -84.3972. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe County, TN | 15 km (9 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| McMinn County, TN | 21 km (13 mi) | W | earthquakes near McMinn County |
| Polk County, TN | 34 km (21 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Polk County |
| Loudon County, TN | 39 km (24 mi) | N | earthquakes near Loudon County |
| Meigs County, TN | 40 km (25 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Meigs County |
| Cherokee County, NC | 42 km (26 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Cherokee County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
4 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 1 km SSW of Sweetwater, Tennessee
- 1.6 3 km SSW of Huntsville, Tennessee
- 1.9 4 km ENE of Riceville, Tennessee
- 1.9 7 km SW of Tellico Village, 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.