EARTHQUAKE SHAKES EAST TENNESSEE THIS MORNING (3.3 on the Richter Scale)

WYCB ^ | 04/20/2010 | WYCB

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Some East Tennessee residents have been jarred awake by an earthquake.

A preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake at 5:28 this morning had strength of 3.3 on the Richter Scale.

The quake was centered about five miles west-southwest of Maryville.

There are no reports of injury or damage, but said the agency received a lot of phone calls reporting the shake.

[Red Badger]

Someone’s meth lab blew up...................

[TexasFreeper2009]

what in the heck is going on... it seems like nearly everyday now there is another earthquake or volcano doing something somewhere unexpected.

I just hope this isn't leading up to something REALLY big.

[Sacajaweau]

Palin hack trial is in Tennessee. Are we sure it was an earthquake??

[Always Right]

3.3 is not exactly earth shattering.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Maryville, once called home by Sam Houston. Only thing he ever run from. ;)

[dangus]

OMG! This is means the New Madrid fault is going to go! We’re all DOOOOOMED!!!

It’s a 3.3. It’s in the news BECAUSE everyone’s paying attention to earthquakes lately. 3.3s occur every day in the United States; this got attention because they don’t occur every day in Eastern Tennessee... but they’re still not unusual. Keep in mind that a 7.3 is 1,000,000 times more powerful than a 3.3.

[dangus]

Just fact-checked: There are FORTY-NINE THOUSAND earthquakes of magnitudes between three and four each year. That’s about ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY PER DAY. Tennessee is on a known fault.

[dangus]

It’s not even earth-gently-nudging. ;^)

[babble-on]

there’s waves of earthquake reporting. Normally a 3.3 quake would not make the news, but in the context of other recent seismic activity, every tremor gets reported

[Ingtar]

Matthew 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

24:8 All these [are] the beginning of sorrows.

[jjsheridan5]

Just fact-checked: There are FORTY-NINE THOUSAND earthquakes of magnitudes between three and four each year. That’s about ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY PER DAY. Tennessee is on a known fault.

I have no doubt you are right. But I always had heard that you cannot really compare magnitudes in different areas, due to differences in the types of rocks. In fact, I seem to remember from geology class (a long time ago) that a 4 in the Tennessee valley was like a 7 out west, in terms of impact (I can't remember the exact numbers). I'm not thinking this is any real story, just curious. How frequent are 3+ earthquakes in this area?

Also, IIRC the area of impact is substantially greater in the East (that even small earthquakes can cause damage 100s of miles away). 3.3 still seems awfully minor, but I wonder how far away it was felt?

[Ingtar]

“Earthquakes large enough to be felt average once a year in the ETSZ.”

[Red Badger]

3.3 is not exactly earth shattering.

Heck, I wouldn't even call it earth shaking............

[Red Badger]

Tennessee is on a known fault.

Yeah, but he left got his Nobel Prize..............

[jjsheridan5]

“Earthquakes large enough to be felt average once a year in the ETSZ.”

What magnitude though? For example, in Utah a 3.3 is almost a daily occurrence. But because of the geology involved in Tennessee, smaller earthquakes have a wider range, and more easily felt. So “large enough to be felt” is a very relative term.

[Dunstan McShane]

Also, IIRC the area of impact is substantially greater in the East (that even small earthquakes can cause damage 100s of miles away). 3.3 still seems awfully minor, but I wonder how far away it was felt?

Well, I'm in Knoxville, about 20 minutes north of Maryville, and I slept right through it--though, come to think of it, I woke up around 4:30 this morning with an uneasiness and a sense of impending doom. But then, I do that every morning.

Small quakes are comparatively common in east Tennessee. The vast majority are probably undetectable if you don't own a seismograph.

[MaxMax]

Those scantly clad women in Iran caused it!

[Ingtar]

This zone is the 2nd most NA zone east of the Mississippi. Most are 2.0 or lower. I think the cut off for feeling it there is the high 2 range. It is amusing to see one 2.0 was pinpointed to a farmers back yard.

[Scythian]

Like birth pangs the contracts come more quickly and are more violent ... Tick, Tick, Tick .... Time is running out