THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TALK
RECENTLY ABOUT EARTHQUAKES IN
EAST TENNESSEE AND HOW
FREQUENTLY THEY SEEM TO HAVE
BEEN HAPPENING..
VICTORIA CAVALIERE SPOKE WITH A
GEOLOGY PROFESSOR TO
FIND OUT IF THERE IS ANYTHING
BEHIND THE TREND...
JUST OVER THE PAST SEVEN DAYS
THERE HAVE BEEN THREE
EARTHQUAKES IN EAST TENNNESSEE.
IN JUST A LITTLE OVER A MONTH
THERE HAVE BEEN 13 EARTHQUAKES
IN EAST TN ALONE.
GIVEN WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN
INCREASED FREQUENCY OF
EARTHQUAKES, WE DECIDED TO TALK
TO A PROFESSOR AT
ETSU TO FIND OUT IF IN FACT MORE
EARTHQUAKES HAVE BEEN
OCCURING.
THE TRUTH IS I DON'T KNOW RIGHT
NOW, WHETHER OR NOT THIS SERIES
OF EARTHQUAKES OVER THE PAST
MONTH IN EAST TENNESSEE IS
STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK CLOSER AT
THE LONG-TERM DISTRIBUTION OF
EARTHQUAKES.
MEASURABLE EARTHQUAKES THROUGH
TIME.
MY GUESS IS THAT IT IS NOT.
THAT IT IS JUST SEEMING LIKE IT
IS AN INCREASED FREQUENCY.
NOW MANY OF YOU HAVE ASKED WHY
THERE ARE EARTHQUAKES
OCCURING HERE IN EAST TN.
WE ARE LOCATED UNDER WHAT IS
CALLED THE EAST TN SEISMIC ZONE,
WHICH IS ACTUALLY A RELATIVELY
ACTIVE ZONE.
I ASKED PROFESSOR GREGG MORE
ABOUT WHAT
MAKES THIS AREA MORE PRONE TO
EARTHQUAKES.
IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY
WHERE THE ROCK WITHIN WHICH THE
EARTHQUAKES OCCUR IS VERY OLD
AND DENSE AND THIS ALLOWS
SEISMIC ENERGY TO TRAVEL GREAT
DISTANCES, ALLOWING PEOPLE FAR
AND WIDE TO OBSERVE SOME MINOR
GROUND SHAKING.
PROFESSOR GREGG ALSO MENTIONED
THAT WHILE THE 4.4
MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE WHICH
HAPPENED BACK IN
DECEMBER IN DECATUR AND THE
MULTIPLE EARTHQUAKES
THAT HAPPENED AROUND THAT TIME
PERIOD MIGHT BE
RELATED, BUT THE REST OF THE
RECENT EARTHQUAKES
ARE LIKELY NOT.
MORE RESEARCH NEEDS TO BE DONE
ON THE FREQUENCY OF EARTHQUAKES
HERE.
THERE IS ALSO A LACK OF
INSTRUMENTS IN THIS AREA THAT
