QuakeIndex

Fault · Nevada

Carson lineament

72 kmlong (45 mi), as mapped
< 0.2 mm/yrhow fast it slips
< 15,000 yearssince it last broke the surface
5quakes of M2.5+ within 10 km since 2016

In plain English

The two sides move less than 0.2 mm a year — under 2 cm a century. Slow faults can still produce large earthquakes, just rarely.

Its most recent surface rupture is younger than 15,000 years.

The largest earthquake recorded near it was M 6.5 in 1860 (East of Reno, Nevada) — about 180,000 times the energy of an M3.0, the size people start to feel. It released about 85 kilotons of TNT.

This week vs. its last ten years

Too quiet to rank: fewer than half a year's worth of weeks with any M1.5+ quake within 5 km, in ten years. A single quake here would read as "unusual", so we do not score it.

Computed from the USGS catalogue · a description of the past, not a forecast · method

San Andreas faultGreat Valley thrust fault systemWassuk Range faultWestern Humboldt Range faultHoney Lake faultBenton Spring faultSmith Valley faultRainbow Mountain faultWarm Springs Valley faultTahoe-Sierra frontal faultWest Tahoe-Dollar Point faultAntelope Valley faultPyramid Lake faultUpper Long Valley faultEast Carson Valley faultHot Springs Mountains faultEastern Carson Sink faultSand Springs Range faultMount Rose faultDog Valley faultNorth Tahoe faultSagouse faultGenoa faultSpanish Springs Valley faultIncline Village faultOlinghouse faultFort Sage faultLittle Valley faultCarson City faultKings Canyon faultPeavine Peak faultNorthern Virginia Range fault M 6.5 · 1860 · East of Reno, Nevada M 6.4 · 1914 · Near Fernley, Nevada M 6.1 · 1933 · 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada
The Carson lineament as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 5 of the M2.5+ earthquakes within 10 km of it since 2016 (dots), and the epicentres of the large historic earthquakes recorded near it (rings). Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

Every year since 2016

Earthquakes of M2.5+ with an epicentre within 10 km of the mapped trace. Near is not the same as on: some will have slipped on neighbouring faults.

The big ones recorded near it

  1. M 6.5 East of Reno, Nevada
    March 15, 1860 · epicentre 18 km from the trace
  2. M 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada
    April 24, 1914 · epicentre 12 km from the trace
  3. M 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada
    June 25, 1933 · epicentre 23 km from the trace

Before 1973 from the USGS ComCat historical catalogue (within 25 km; epicentres of old earthquakes are estimates). Since 2016, M4+ within 10 km.

Most recent near it

  1. M 2.6 11 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada
    2026-05-15 · 5 km from the trace
  2. M 2.6 15 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada
    2026-05-06 · 8 km from the trace
  3. M 2.5 10 km NE of Silver Springs, Nevada
    2022-02-12 · 2 km from the trace
  4. M 3.8 10 km N of Stagecoach, Nevada
    2020-12-01 · 9 km from the trace
  5. M 3.3 16 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
    2020-03-25 · 10 km from the trace

Neighbouring faults

Fault trace, slip rate and age: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database (public domain), simplified for the web. Earthquakes: USGS ComCat. QuakeIndex does not forecast earthquakes; a fault's history describes the past. For early warning use ShakeAlert.