A minor earthquake shook Roane County yesterday morning (Sunday, October 22, 2017). According to U.S. Geological Service, the 2.5 magnitude quake struck just before 7 a.m. eastern time (yellow star in picture shows where center of earthquake took place). The USGS said the quake sent tremors to a nearly 7 km radius. People on the far western edge of Knox County also reported feeling the quake on the USGS site. According to a federal study conducted by the USGS in 2017, East Tennessee has seen a significant uptick in small quakes like these and is in an area of increased risk for a Category V intensity earthquake within the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. Category V earthquakes are medium intensity on that scale, causing moderate shaking felt by most people but not significant damage. The USGS said the chances of an earthquake stronger than that in our area is about one percent, and about a 99 percent chance that it would be weaker. In the past year, Tennessee has seen 264 earthquakes, all of which were below 3.7 magnitude.