QuakeIndex

Fault · Nevada

Sagouse fault

25 kmlong (16 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.

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 lineamentRainbow Mountain faultPyramid Lake faultEast Carson Valley faultHot Springs Mountains faultEastern Carson Sink faultSand Springs Range faultFairview faultHot Springs faultWest Gate faultEastgate faultOlinghouse faultLouderback Mountains faultTerraced Hills faultNorthern Virginia Range fault M 6.5 · 1954 · 17 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada M 6.2 · 1954 · The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake
The Sagouse fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, and the epicentres of the large historic earthquakes recorded near it (rings). Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

The big ones recorded near it

  1. M 6.5 17 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada
    August 24, 1954 · epicentre 22 km from the trace
  2. M 6.2 The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake
    July 6, 1954 · epicentre 16 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.

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.