Four earthquakes in three days across East Tennessee

Four earthquakes across East Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The U.S. Geological Survey confirms three earthquakes struck the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

USGS officials say the first was a 2.0 magnitude quake epicentered along the Tennessee-North Carolina border, about nine miles southeast of Tellico Plains in the Nantahal National Forest. It started just after 5:13 PM and was located in a fault measured to be 5.2 miles beneath a ridge near Elbow Creek.

The second quake occurred at 9:03 PM. USGS says it was a 2.7 magnitude quake and was epicentered about four miles southeast of Vonore, in an open field between Tomotley Road and the Little Tennessee River. The quake originated in a fault measured at a depth of exactly four miles underneath the epicenter.

The final quake occurred early Sunday morning at 2:24 AM. USGS says it had a magnitude of 1.1 and was epicentered four miles east of Sweetwater, in a wooded area near the intersections of Forner Chapel Road and Highway 322. The fault was located 11.2 miles beneath the epicenter.

All three earthquakes came on the heels of a 2.4 magnitude quake epicentered about two miles northwest of Maryville on Friday morning.

The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone is considered one of the most active earthquake areas in the Southeast, meaning quakes can occur at anytime in the region. More than a dozen small quakes have been measured across East Tennessee over the last eight months.

At least three earthquakes occurred over seven days in late December 2008. All three had epicenters located within 75 miles of TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant, leading to some minor speculation that the series of quakes possibly played a role in the December 22nd coal ash spill.

Related link..

'' Are Earthquakes Really on the Increase?

We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant.

A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the last twenty years, we have definitely had an increase in the number of earthquakes we have been able to locate each year. This is because of the tremendous increase in the number of seismograph stations in the world and the many improvements in global communications. In 1931, there were about 350 stations operating in the world; today, there are more than 8,000 stations and the data now comes in rapidly from these stations by electronic mail, internet and satellite. This increase in the number of stations and the more timely receipt of data has allowed us and other seismological centers to locate earthquakes more rapidly and to locate many small earthquakes which were undetected in earlier years. The NEIC now locates about 20,000 earthquakes each year or approximately 50 per day. Also, because of the improvements in communications and the increased interest in the environment and natural disasters, the public now learns about more earthquakes.

According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 17 major earthquakes (7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or above) in any given year. ''

USGS

And on the 16th of May at 4:08 AM there was a 3.0 quake here in Roanoke Va.

reply to post by grover


Did you feel it ?
I have a friend in Australia and she told me they had an scary one last week over there....

This might interest you: Earthquake Watch has been released by Southern California Weather Authority - until May 29th

The Southern California Weather Authority has issued an Official Earthquake Watch for California until May 29th. They have stated the area is now prime and the conditions are right for a moderate (4 magnitude) to larger Earthquake to happen.

Nice find, but do you if this is serious stuff ?
Look here :

A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS BUILDING IN RAPIDLY AND WILL MAXIMIZE OVER THE AREA ON MAY 27TH, DROPPING TO THE EAST BY MAY 28TH IN THE EVENING. THE COMBINATION OF BERKLAND'S SEISMIC WINDOW AND THIS WILL LIKELY LEAD TO AN ACTIVE FEW DAYS.

A 3.4 AFTERSHOCK DID HIT THE KEELER, CALIFORNIA AREA ON MAY 25, 2009 BUT MORE IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS WILL BE ON THE WAY IF THESE COME TOGETHER JUST RIGHT. ON THE OTHER HAND, FRANK CONDON MONITORS ULTRA LOW FREQUENCIES IN THE FAULT ZONES AND HAS PUT THE AREA IN A 7-DAY ADVISORY. USUALLY WHEN FRANK, JIM, AND THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WEATHER AUTHORITY AGREE, SOMETHING SEISMIC DOES HAPPEN.

THIS IS NOT A SMALL EVENT SUCH AS A THREE SERIES QUAKE, BUT FOUR SERIES OR LARGER WILL BE LIKELY BEFORE MAY 29, 2009. BERKLAND'S SEISMIC WINDOW CLOSES ON MAY 30TH, 2009, AND OUR WINDOW WILL GO AHEAD AND SHUT ON MAY 29TH AT MIDNIGHT.

THE ATTEMPT TO LOCATE AREAS OF FAILING FAULTS WILL STILL BE IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY AREAS, DOWN TO OFFSHORE ORANGE COUNTY, EASTWARD THROUGH ONTARIO AND YUCAIPA, INCLUDING THE BANNING PASS. STRESS FROM THE MAGNITUDE 4.7 EARTHQUAKE IN KEELER IS MOVING SOUTH AND FURTHER NOTED NEAR THE LANDERS AND BARSTOW AREAS, INCLUDING THE GARLOCK FAULT ZONE. THE SAN JACINTO FAULT IS CREEPING AS WELL AND IS AN AREA TO WATCH. NEVER-THE-LESS THE NEXT FEW DAYS WILL BE A CERTAIN TEST TO ALL THREE PREDICTION PROCESS.

Sorry for the Caps, is from the source.. It dont sound too good...

reply to post by ChemBreather


Actually yes. It woke me up... it was a single jolt and a thump or bang sound afterward.

reply to post by grover


Was it an 'airquake' you think ? the Ground shook right ? !

reply to post by ChemBreather


It was one single jolt... and a banging sound afterward... that is what pretty much everyone reported... the epicenter was about 5 miles from here in the Cave Spring section of southwest Roanoke county. It registered as i said a 3.0.

Originally posted by grover
reply to post by ChemBreather

 

It was one single jolt... and a banging sound afterward... that is what pretty much everyone reported... the epicenter was about 5 miles from here in the Cave Spring section of southwest Roanoke county. It registered as i said a 3.0.

And that happen to be one day before the YS hydrothermal explosion. Of course, those things are not linked or anything... just both rare and happening 24hrs of each-other.

To anybody in the tenn./virginia area, whats the status of the water levels in the lakes of the TVA. Are they down from the drought of the last couple of years, if so that might be the source of the quakes. The earths sruface might be rebounding from the releif of the weight of water.

Several years ago when Lake Mead was drained down to nothing for repairs to Hoover Dam, the las vegas area experienced a "swarm" of minor quakes as the ground rebounded from the loss of weight.

reply to post by punkinworks09


To answer your question, way down. Although the rain we have been getting the past couple of weeks has helped.

In all honesty, every few months there are a couple of small earthquakes and rumbles in east Tennessee, and its been that way for years. Most go by unnoticed, I am surprised WVLT even ran a piece on it.. must have been a slow news day.

Being a resident here and an avid quake watcher for years... there is not too much cause for alarm at this point.

Now when the New Madrid fault starts acting up more than it has been... we can worry.

reply to post by TwiTcHomatic

I dont sweat Eq's mush either.
It seems the people who most get worked up by earthquakes often live in areas without them.
When I meet people from so called earthqauke free areas, they are always asking how I deal with them.
I reply its easy they only happen rarely, then I ask how do they deal with yearly tornados or hurricanes, cause those things are scary.
It takes a pretty big one to ruffle my feathers and there are only a few faults that produce really big ones.

The last sizable one we felt around here, was a couple of years ago at the earthquake capitol, Parkfield.

I was sitting at my desk working, I had my feet apart on the floor and was leaning on both hands on the desk.
I felt the wave pass from right to left in both my feet and my hands. It wasnt a shake or a jolt since the epicenter was 90 miles away, but just a wave passing by.
It was avery interesting feeling.