Tennessee. It’s the only Southeast state sitting between two active seismic zones — the New Madrid Seismic Zone in the west (Memphis) and the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone in the east (Knoxville, Chattanooga). USGS hazard mapping places Tennessee in the highest earthquake risk category in the eastern US, alongside coastal South Carolina. Mississippi’s northeast counties and western North Carolina’s mountain counties are next in exposure.
See our Tennessee earthquake guide for full detail.





