Get outta here!

And one doesn’t have to feel it for it to occur.

Therefore, the synopsis remains – only larger quakes can be felt.  Currently, the county has only smaller (2.0 – 3.5) quakes as measured by scientists.  They cannot be felt.  The larger earthquake, 4.1 on the Richter Scale, was felt by many citizens this past Saturday morning. The last earthquake in DeKalb County, Tennessee was on March 29, 2024 and struck 91-miles southeast of Smithville.  The earthquake had a magnitude rating of 2.02 on the measuring Richter Scale and a depth of 7.08 kilometers.  The above and following information was displayed for public viewing at www.database.earth. The southeastern region incorporates the Midway and Cookeville state areas.

The strongest earthquake to hit DeKalb County was a 4.60 magnitude earthquake with a depth of 19.21 kilometers.  It struck 103 miles southeast of Smithville in 2004.  The southeast location from Smithville, Tennessee is in the direction of Dibrell, McMinnville, Rock Island, Chattanooga, etc. The question “How often do earthquakes occur in or near DeKalb County, Tennessee?”  The answer follows: “In 2004, DeKalb County experienced three earthquakes with a magnitude of 0.1 or higher on the Richter Scale.  That’s lower than the annual average of 23.93 earthquakes in the region.  Based on historic earthquake data, which dates back to 1950, it can be assumed that DeKalb County is struck by an earthquake every 1.99 months (almost every two months).”

Within this complex realm, the following sentence is stressed by www.database.earth.   “Earthquakes are recorded and updated every minute of every day.”  This is in reference to the above documented DeKalb County earthquake recordings.

For brevity, the total number of earthquakes in DeKalb County as of April 12, 2024 is 1,795 and the areas in DeKalb County with the majority of the earthquakes were eastern, southeastern, and northeastern DeKalb County.  There was no mention of western or northern areas with any earthquake activity.  The Saturday morning earthquake was centered in eastern Tennessee, adjacent to the North Carolina state line.

Since 2003, Smithville, Tennessee has had nine earthquakes of a magnitude up to 100 kilometers (63 miles) distance.  While Tennessee had 301 quakes in 2018, it is the highest amount in the past 25 years.  Why?  Because more residents are reporting that they felt them.  This is a precursor to naming and categorizing each earthquake.  This is exactly the case associated with the Saturday morning quake.

On a personal note, my family and I were vacationing in Mexico City in 1965 when a sizable earthquake hit the downtown area where we were staying.  In looking out the hotel window at the buildings sliding apart, Dad humorously said, “Are those buildings swaying or am I drunk!”  They had pulled apart from other structures and were swaying in the wind.  We saw many persons who were trapped in these buildings.  And yes, we could feel the quake's powers while inside our non-recommended safety place.  This would classify the earthquake as “very high” (7.1) on the Richter Scale.

“It’s common to have small earthquakes.  It’s less common to have large earthquakes,” said Dan Blakeman, geophysicist of Nashville, Tennessee.

The overall consensus regarding this habit of nature is “DeKalb County has very few earthquakes.  On average there are only about 0.48 usually very small quakes every year,” quoted the Volcanic Discovery.