Earthquakes
As I watch the news of mudslides, wildfires, earthquakes, tusnamis and other natural disasters, I feel blessed that we don't have those challenges in our lives here. While there have been earthquakes in TN, they are few and far between.
According the the US Geological Servuce, the western part of Tennessee (500 miles from Norris Lake) was shaken strongly by the New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake of 1811 - 1812 and by earthquakes in 1843 and 1895. The area has also experienced minor shocks. Additional activity has occurred in the eastern part of the State, near the North Carolina border. A strong shock centered at Knoxville on March 28, 1913, was felt over an area of 7,000 square kilometers in eastern Tennessee. Movable objects were overthrown, and bricks fell from chimneys. A number of false alarms were set off at fire stations.
I remember the earthquake sequence consisting of one foreshock, a magnitude 4.6 main shock, and more than 30 aftershocks occurring south of Knoxville during the latter part of 1973. I awoke early in the morning to a "boom" sound and then a shaking and then silence. No real damage.
We don't have the earth tremors of California and other areas; the heavy snow and cold of the northern and western climates; the traffic of Atlanta or NYC or Boston; the searing heat of the deserts; the short, short winter days of the northern states. Our cost of living is low, our lifestyle relaxed, we have no state income tax. After having lived in San Francisco, the NortheastByGodKingdom of Vermont and CT, I think I have the best of all worlds here on Norris Lake. 