Earthquake hazard in East Tennessee: What could happen here?

Posted at 4:20 pm March 7, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Robert Hatcher

Could we have a major earthquake in East Tennessee? Do we live in an active seismic zone?

These and other questions will be addressed by Robert Hatcher, University of Tennessee distinguished scientist emeritus, in a lecture, “Living with East Tennessee Geology and Earthquakes,” in Oak Ridge in April.

The lecture is scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in the University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Hatcher was a faculty member for 32 years in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Science Alliance Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee, a press release said. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Vanderbilt University and his doctorate at the University of Tennessee.

He was a UT distinguished scientist and professor of structural geology and tectonics. Some of his current research focuses on prehistoric earthquakes in the East Tennessee seismic zone, with support from the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, the press release said.

In addition to his teaching and research, Hatcher has worked as a geologist for an oil company and has also served on the faculties of Clemson University, Florida State University, and the University of South Carolina, the press release said.

Hatcher’s primary research goal is better understanding of the evolution of continental crust, mostly through the study of mountain chains and ancient crust. Most of his research has been concentrated in the southern and central Appalachians, but large amounts of time have been spent visiting and studying other mountain chains and older continental crusts, the release said. His primary interest is in the processes that generate large faults, the causes of intraplate seismicity, and determination of recurrence intervals for intraplate earthquakes

The April 11 program is a free program sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society, Strata-G, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, and the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. No registration is required. For more information contact Michelle Campanis at (865)483-7277 or [email protected]

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.

Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to Oak Ridge Today. You don't have to subscribe to read most of our stories, but your subscription does provide benefits, including access to premium content. And it will help us cover local news for you day and night, as best we can. You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month. You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers:

Basic

Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.