QuakeIndex

Fault · Nevada

Rainbow Mountain fault

72 kmlong (45 mi), as mapped
< 0.2 mm/yrhow fast it slips
last 150 yearssince it last broke the surface
1quakes 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.

It has broken the ground surface within the last 150 years.

The largest earthquake recorded near it was M 6.5 in 1954 (17 km ESE of Fallon Station, 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 faultWassuk Range faultDixie Valley faultWestern Humboldt Range faultSmith Valley faultBuena Vista Valley faultCarson lineamentPleasant Valley faultGranite Springs Valley faultPyramid Lake faultDesatoya Mountains faultHot Springs Mountains faultEastern Carson Sink faultSand Springs Range faultFairview faultHot Springs faultSagouse faultWest Gate faultEastgate faultOlinghouse faultLouderback Mountains fault M 6.5 · 1954 · 17 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada M 6.2 · 1954 · The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake
The Rainbow Mountain fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 1 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 17 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada
    August 24, 1954 · epicentre 6 km from the trace
  2. M 6.2 The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake
    July 6, 1954 · epicentre 3 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 2.7 28 km ENE of Fallon Station, Nevada
    2023-10-28 · 5 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.