QuakeIndex

Fault · Nevada

Rattlesnake Flat fault

15 kmlong (9 mi), as mapped
< 0.2 mm/yrhow fast it slips
< 15,000 yearssince it last broke the surface
9quakes 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 6.3 in 1934 (The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake) — about 89,000 times the energy of an M3.0, the size people start to feel. It released about 43 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 faultWhite Mountains faultFish Lake Valley faultBenton Spring faultSmith Valley faultHuntoon Valley fault systemLone Mountain faultEmigrant Peak faultSilver Lake faultHilton Creek faultMonte Cristo Valley faultHot Springs faultGabbs Valley faultHartley Springs faultMono Lake faultRobinson Creek faultIndian Head faultMcAfee Canyon fault M 6.3 · 1934 · The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake
The Rattlesnake Flat fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 9 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 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake
    January 30, 1934 · epicentre 7 km from the trace
  2. M 4.3 25 km SW of Mina, Nevada
    January 22, 2022 · epicentre 10 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 2.5 27 km SW of Mina, Nevada
    2022-08-10 · 10 km from the trace
  2. M 3.5 California-Nevada border region
    2022-02-21 · 10 km from the trace
  3. M 2.9 26 km SW of Mina, Nevada
    2022-01-22 · 10 km from the trace
  4. M 4.3 25 km SW of Mina, Nevada
    2022-01-22 · 10 km from the trace
  5. M 3.1 32 km SSE of Hawthorne, Nevada
    2021-02-21 · 9 km from the trace
  6. M 3.0 27 km SSE of Hawthorne, Nevada
    2018-04-04 · 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.