Did you feel it?
A small earthquake shook parts of Knox County at 4:16 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Some of us in the newsroom felt the slight tremor, and we've taken several calls from across the city from people asking if there was an earthquake. Knox County dispatchers told 10News they were also receiving calls about the quake.
Eunsoon Corliss felt it in her neighborhood near McKamey Road.
"It sounded like a someone pushing or hitting my house," said Corliss.
According to the U.S.G.S. website, the quake measured a 2.5 on the Richter scale, a very small tremor that many people wouldn't even notice.
But Corliss did.
"I thought I heard something wrong or somebody was passing making noise," said Corliss.
The epicenter was north of Kingston Pike and I-40 near West Town Mall in West Knoxville.
Small earthquakes are very common in East Tennessee. The USGS has recorded 68 earthquakes in the state in the last year.
This region is part of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, which stretches across Tennessee, northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama. While this zone is the most active in the Southeast United States, damage rarely results from these earthquakes.
Geologists say quakes of 2.5 are the most common in the world, with more than 900,000 a year. People rarely notice them.
Quakes of 2.5 to 5.4 are often felt, but they only cause minor damage. There are about 30,000 of them a year.
Seismologist Jeff Munsey says earthquakes like the one we felt happen a few times a year, and rarely cause damage.
"I don't think there's anything to be especially concerned about, but you can definitely expect to feel and hear about more earthquakes in East Tennessee," said Munsey.
The folks over at UT apparently felt it, and took to twitter to mark the occasion with some humor:
The first week of classes was so good, we're shook. #earthquake #WelcomeVols pic.twitter.com/dY4hqV2BY9
— UT Knoxville (@UTKnoxville) August 25, 2017