QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

14km SW of Primm, NV

82 km (51 mi) SSW of Las Vegas, NV

· -1.2 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 89 kmSan Bernardino County 96 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
-1.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clark County, 89 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2901 days ago

A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 14km SW of Primm, NV at 21:15 UTC on 2018-09-25. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2018-07-05 — about 4,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 35.5235, -115.5037. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, NV 89 km (55 mi) NNE earthquakes near Clark County
San Bernardino County, CA 96 km (60 mi) SW earthquakes near San Bernardino County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.0 21 km SW of Primm, NV
  2. 2.1 21 km SW of Primm, NV
  3. 2.3 17km SW of Primm, NV
  4. 2.1 16 km SW of Primm, NV
  5. 1.5 25 km SW of Sandy Valley, Nevada
  6. 2.3 20km SW of Primm, NV
  7. 2.3 40 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
  8. 1.9 39 km S of Goodsprings, Nevada
  9. 2.3 22km SW of Primm, NV
  10. 2.1 21km SW of Primm, NV
  11. 2.2 21km SW of Primm, NV
  12. 2.1 18km SW of Primm, NV
  13. 2.3 21km SW of Primm, NV
  14. 2.2 38 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
  15. 2.3 21km SW of Primm, NV

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.