TENNESSEE - Over the past six months, more than 75 earthquakes have been recorded in both East and West Tennessee. Last Thursday, a 2.4-magnitude earthquake struck Jackson, TN, while another quake was recorded a few days earlier in Dyersburg on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, registering a 1.9 on the Richter scale.

In Northwest Tennessee, seismic activity has been particularly concentrated near Reelfoot Lake, where more than 30 earthquakes have occurred within a 10-mile radius of the waterway over the past six months. According to the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI), these small quakes have been happening on both sides of the state for years.

East Tennessee has also experienced several tremors. A 2.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Chattanooga 16 weeks ago, while a 2.3-magnitude quake was recorded in Sweetwater this past September. Additional seismic activity was noted in Rutledge (2.3 magnitude in November) and Rhea, TN (1.6 magnitude in October). On Thursday, February 13, a 1.4-magnitude earthquake was reported near Athens, TN, the same day as the 2.4-magnitude quake in Jackson (West TN).

The Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) partners with the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) to monitor seismic activity. ANSS includes a national Backbone network, the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC), the National Strong Motion Project, and 15 regional seismic networks operated by the USGS and its partners.

Over the past six months, CERI has recorded a total of 542 earthquakes on its monitoring map, which focuses on the Midwest, North, and South regions of the U.S. and extends slightly into Canada. These quakes have ranged in magnitude from as small as 0.5 to as large as 3.8. The most recent significant earthquake on the CERI map was a 3.8-magnitude tremor, which occurred on January 27, 2025, off the coast of Maine near an area known as Murray Rock in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nationwide, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirms that 3 earthquakes took place on Thursday. Of those, there was a 2.6-magnitude quake in Los Angeles, California, another 2.6-magnitude tremor in San Bernardino, and a 2.7-magnitude earthquake in Assaria, Kansas.