A 2.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Rockwood, Tn., on Saturday around 11 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS said this was a relatively weak earthquake. It was felt as far as Knoxville and just east of Nashville and into North Georgia.
The USGS went on to say that over the past three weeks activity in this area has been increasing even though they are mild quakes. Thursday a 2.1 earthquake with an epicenter around Athens occurred and a week ago a 2.2 magnitude quake was recorded near the Dunlap area. Four months ago, a 2.0 magnitude quake with an epicenter just north of Dayton happened along with a 1.8 magnitude quake in the Sweetwater area.
Even though quakes have been occurring in the East Tennessee area, the USGS said that most quakes in Tennessee are happening more in the West Tennessee area. Western Tennessee is located within the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area famous for a catastrophic series of earthquakes in 1811 and 1812 that were centered near New Madrid County, Missouri. This quake created the Reelfoot Lake area. The force of the land upheaval drowned the inhabitants of an Indian Village and turned the Mississippi River to flow backwards for a short period of time creating the lake as water overflowed its banks. It also created two temporary waterfalls in the Mississippi River
On average about 200 measured events per year of 1.0 to 3.0 occur annually. These are capable of local minor damage.
None has been reported yet.
The USGS said the earthquake that occurred earlier today in eastern Tennessee is unlikely associated with the New Madrid Seismic Zone. However, while western Tennessee has a higher frequency of damaging earthquakes shaking, the risk is not that low in central and eastern Tennessee. In the area of today’s quake, USGS says it is likely this area would see 50 to 100 damaging earthquakes over a 10,000-year period. While this number is low, it is much higher than it is elsewhere in the eastern half of the United States.