Magnitude 4.4 earthquake strikes Tennessee near a nuclear power plant as the tremor is felt 130 miles away in Atlanta
Earthquake struck 60 miles north of Chattanooga at 4.14am on Wednesday
Epicenter is just three miles from the Watts Bar nuclear power plant
Residents were left in a state of shock after being shaken awake by the tremor
Quake was felt as far afield as Atlanta, 130 miles south of the epicenter
By CHRIS PLEASANCE
DAILYMAIL.COM
12 December 2018
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck in Tennessee around 4am on Wednesday.
The quake hit close to the town of Akeman Crossroad, some 60 miles north of Chattanooga, and just three miles from the Watts Bar nuclear power plant.
Police said there were no reports of damage at the plant, which is built to withstand up to a 5.8 magnitude quake.
Residents reported being shaken awake by the quake, which was followed 13 minutes later by a 3.3 magnitude aftershock.
The tremor was felt as far afield as Atlanta, approximately 130 miles to the south.
It is the second strongest earthquake to hit eastern Tennessee, the most powerful being a 4.7 tremor which struck near Maryville in 1973.
The quake took place in the East Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) which stretches from northeastern Alabama to southwestern Virginia.
It is not located on a fault line, such as the San Andreas fault in California, which is where two tectonic plates which make up the earth’s crust meet.
Instead, the ETSZ produces earthquakes in the middle of a tectonic plate, the exact cause of which are unknown.
While the area is subject to frequent seismic activity, most of the quakes are so small they can only be detected with instruments.
Scientists believe that quakes up to a magnitude 7.5 are possible in this area, but would be extremely rare, with quakes between magnitude five and six estimated to happen every 200 to 300 years.
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