quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
17km SW of Primm, NV
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.1 quarry blast was recorded 17km SW of Primm, NV, 84 km (52 mi) SSW of Las Vegas, NV, at 2:15 pm PDT on 16 October 2018 (21:15 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
84 km (52 mi) SSW of Las Vegas, NV
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- -1.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Clark County, 91 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2944 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sandy Valley, NV
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 37 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 4,600 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 35.5047, -115.5257. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County, NV | 91 km (57 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Clark County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 94 km (58 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
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 23 km WSW of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 2.4 20km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.3 20km SW of Primm, NV
- 1.8 15 km S of Enterprise, Nevada
- 1.8 21 km SW of Primm, NV
- 1.9 21 km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.1 21 km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.0 21 km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.1 21 km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.3 17km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.1 16 km SW of Primm, NV
- 1.5 25 km SW of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 2.3 20km SW of Primm, NV
- 2.3 40 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 1.9 39 km S of Goodsprings, Nevada
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
- 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.