A tremor rattled Menlo on Tuesday, serving as a stark reminder of the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone, one of the most seismically active areas in the Southeastern United States. The earthquake, felt by residents in Menlo and Cloudland, as well as parts of southwestern Walker County and northwestern Cherokee County, Alabama, underscores the ongoing seismic activity in the region.

The Eastern Tennessee seismic zone stretches across Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, and into northeastern Alabama. While not prone to devastatingly large earthquakes, the zone has been known to produce events causing minor damage. The largest earthquake on record in the area registered a magnitude of 4.6 on April 29, 2003, and was centered near Fort Payne, Alabama. Experts emphasize that earthquakes in the central and eastern United States, though less frequent than those on the West Coast, have the potential to be felt over a significantly larger area. Due to the geological differences between the regions, an earthquake east of the Rockies can be felt up to ten times further than a similar magnitude quake on the West Coast. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake in the eastern U.S. can potentially be felt within a 60-mile radius of the epicenter, while a magnitude 5.5 event could be felt as far as 300 miles and cause damage within 25 miles of its source.

Earthquakes occur along faults deep within the bedrock. In the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone, many faults remain undiscovered, and even known faults are often poorly located at earthquake depths. This makes it difficult to link specific earthquakes to identified faults. As a result, the historical record of earthquakes themselves serves as the most reliable indicator of potential seismic hazards in the region.