QuakeIndex

Fault · Nevada

Kings Canyon fault

16 kmlong (10 mi), as mapped
1–5 mm/yrhow fast it slips
< 15,000 yearssince it last broke the surface
6quakes of M2.5+ within 10 km since 2016

In plain English

The two sides move 1 to 5 mm a year — 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 inches) every century.

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

The largest earthquake recorded near it was M 6.5 in 1887 (Near Carson City, 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 systemFoothills fault systemWassuk Range faultHoney Lake faultSmith Valley faultMohawk Valley faultCarson lineamentTahoe-Sierra frontal faultWest Tahoe-Dollar Point faultAntelope Valley faultPyramid Lake faultUpper Long Valley faultEast Carson Valley faultHot Springs Mountains faultMount Rose faultDog Valley faultPolaris faultNorth Tahoe faultGenoa faultSpanish Springs Valley faultIncline Village faultOlinghouse faultLittle Valley faultCarson City faultPeavine Peak faultNorthern Virginia Range fault M 6.5 · 1887 · Near Carson City, Nevada M 6.3 · 1857 · California-Nevada Border east of Truckee M 6.2 · 1869 · Near Carson City, Nevada M 6.0 · 1868 · Near Virginia City, Nevada
The Kings Canyon fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 6 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 Near Carson City, Nevada
    June 3, 1887 · epicentre 3 km from the trace
  2. M 6.3 California-Nevada Border east of Truckee
    September 3, 1857 · epicentre 21 km from the trace
  3. M 6.2 Near Carson City, Nevada
    December 27, 1869 · epicentre 4 km from the trace
  4. M 6.0 Near Virginia City, Nevada
    May 30, 1868 · epicentre 17 km from the trace
  5. M 4.5 5 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    March 21, 2020 · epicentre 7 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 3.2 4 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    2020-03-22 · 6 km from the trace
  2. M 4.5 5 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    2020-03-21 · 7 km from the trace
  3. M 2.8 5 km ENE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    2019-12-01 · 7 km from the trace
  4. M 3.2 5 km ENE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    2018-12-20 · 7 km from the trace
  5. M 3.6 5 km ENE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    2018-12-20 · 7 km from the trace
  6. M 3.2 5 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
    2018-12-04 · 7 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.