QuakeIndex

Fault · Nevada

Montana Mountains/Desert Valley fault

101 kmlong (63 mi), as mapped
< 0.2 mm/yrhow fast it slips
< 15,000 yearssince it last broke the surface
0quakes 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.

USGS maps it as 2 sections: northern section, southern section.

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

Steens faultSanta Rosa Range fault systemHoppin Peaks faultBlack Rock fault
The Montana Mountains/Desert Valley fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, . Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

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.