4.1 magnitude Tennessee earthquake rattles homes in metro Atlanta

Caroline Silva, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 10, 2025

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ATLANTA — If you felt your house in north Georgia shake Saturday morning, you’re not going crazy.

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake that originated in Greenback, Tennessee, was felt all the way into metro Atlanta. The United States Geological Survey confirmed the quake occurred at 9:04 a.m. EST.

The tremor was about 15 miles deep, which is considered a shallow quake.

Greenback is about 40 miles from Knoxville, about 100 miles from Chattanooga and about 170 miles from downtown Atlanta.

The earthquake was felt in homes across metro Atlanta, with several locals taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their experiences. It was also felt in parts of North Carolina, including Asheville — about 120 miles from the epicenter — as well as areas of northwest South Carolina.

Matthew Boedy, a resident of Gainesville and professor at the University of North Georgia, said he was confused when items around his home began to rattle. His 4-year-old daughter did not notice anything, but he suspects that’s because she was bouncing around the house full of energy.

“Some shaking and some rattling, and I wasn’t sure what it was. We had some helicopters fly over yesterday, and I thought it was that, but I couldn’t figure it out until somebody told me it was an actual earthquake,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Officials in Gilmer County, near the Tennessee border, are advising residents to avoid placing breakable items above shoulder height for the time being.

Back in December 2018, Georgians were jolted out of bed when a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in central Tennessee occurred about 150 miles from downtown Atlanta.

Georgia is located in the middle of the North American Plate, the vast tectonic plate that sits beneath almost all of North America, parts of the Caribbean, Greenland and much of the Atlantic Ocean. Earthquakes — particularly strong ones — are much more likely in places like California, which sit along major plate boundaries.

But that does not mean Georgia doesn’t get its share of tremors.

More than three dozen earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater have occurred in Georgia since 1974, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.