Earthquake near Pahrump, NV

USGS: 17km E of Shoshone, CA

78 km (49 mi) WSW of Las Vegas, NV

12:02 am PDT, Oct 16, 2018 · 2018-10-16 07:02 UTC · 3.3 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

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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: 12:02 am PDT on 16 October 2018 (2018-10-16 07:02 UTC)
Where: 25 km (16 mi) SSW of Pahrump, NV · earthquakes near Pahrump
Magnitude: M 1.7 (ml)
Depth: 3.3 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Clark County, 99 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault: Pahrump fault, 13 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2902 days ago · we first saw it 2902 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) SSW of Pahrump, NV, at 12:02 am PDT on 16 October 2018 (07:02 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 18,000 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 35.9940, -116.0823. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Clark County, NV	99 km (62 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Clark County
Inyo County, CA	134 km (83 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.5 10 km NE of Tecopa, California 03:11 UTC
2.0 24km SSW of Tecopa, CA 05:51 UTC
1.7 38km ESE of Furnace Creek, CA 05:55 UTC
1.6 25 km WNW of Shoshone, California 15:00 UTC
1.8 18 km W of Sandy Valley, Nevada 04:05 UTC
2.2 38km E of Tecopa, CA 02:09 UTC
1.7 15 km WNW of Sandy Valley, Nevada 23:52 UTC
2.4 16km E of Shoshone, CA 05:45 UTC
2.0 15 km WNW of Sandy Valley, Nevada 06:21 UTC
1.5 29 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada 03:20 UTC
2.6 29 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada 04:10 UTC
1.9 28km S of Tecopa, CA 07:48 UTC
1.7 34 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada 15:50 UTC
2.6 35km SE of Tecopa, CA 18:59 UTC
3.1 17km E of Shoshone, CA 07:11 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:12 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

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