earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

measuring 4.4 M_W on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pap ...

struck north-northeast of Decatur, Tennessee in the eastern part of the state on December 12, 2018 at 4:14 a.m.

Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

. The earthquake occurred at a depth of . The earthquake occurred along the

Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ), also known as the East Tennessee Seismic Zone and the Southern Appalachian Seismic Zone, is a geographic band stretching from northeastern Alabama to southwestern Virginia that is subject to frequent small ...

(ETSZ), a geographic band stretching from northeastern

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

to southwestern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

that is subject to frequent small earthquakes. The earthquake was felt throughout the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, primarily in eastern Tennessee and the Atlanta metropolitan area. While relatively minor, this earthquake was the largest to occur on the ETSZ since the 4.6 M_W 2003 Alabama earthquake, the third largest to have been recorded in the area, becoming the fourth largest earthquake recorded in the region. Robert Sanders from the U.S. Geological Survey told

WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to ...

that aftershocks would be possible throughout the day after the quake.

Geologic background

The ETSZ is one of the most seismically active areas in the relatively calm eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Most earthquakes that occur in the zone are small, measuring under 3 M_W; however, earthquakes in the zone tend to be more felt more than earthquakes of similar intensity more seismically active places like the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous ...

due to higher strength of in the rock in the East. Earthquakes also are felt over wider areas than those of similar intensity in the West.

Damage and effects

Damage was expected in the small towns near the quake's epicenter, but should not be considered catastrophic. The earthquake's epicenter was located two miles east of

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) nuclear reactor pair used for electric power generation. It is located on a 1,770-acre (7.2 km²) site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between the cities of Chat ...

operated by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

. They reported that their facilities are designed to withstand seismic events and were not impacted by the earthquake, but personnel would conduct further inspections as a precaution. The

Tennessee Department of Transportation The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is a multimodal agency with statewide responsibilities in roadways, aviation, public transit, waterways, and railroads. The mission of TDOT is to provide a safe and reliable transportation syste ...

was not notified of any damages to bridges, but teams carried out inspections on them as a precautionary measure.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018 Southern Appalachian earthquake, 2018 2018 earthquakes Earthquakes in the United States Natural disasters in Tennessee December 2018 events in the United States 2018 in Tennessee

Geologic background

Damage and effects

See also

References

External links