QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

Earthquake near Pahrump, NV

USGS: 17km E of Shoshone, CA

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

12:41 pm PDT, Aug 24, 2018 · · 2.6 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 99 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
12:41 pm PDT on 24 August 2018 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) SSW of Pahrump, NV · earthquakes near Pahrump
Magnitude
M 2.4 (ml)
Depth
2.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clark County, 99 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Pahrump fault, 14 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2958 days ago

A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) SSW of Pahrump, NV, at 12:41 pm PDT on 24 August 2018 (19:41 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 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 1,500 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 35.9835, -116.0788. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, NV 99 km (62 mi) ENE earthquakes near Clark County
Inyo County, CA 135 km (84 mi) WNW earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 36 km NNW of Shoshone, CA
  2. 1.5 10 km NE of Tecopa, California
  3. 2.0 24km SSW of Tecopa, CA
  4. 1.7 38km ESE of Furnace Creek, CA
  5. 1.6 25 km WNW of Shoshone, California
  6. 1.8 18 km W of Sandy Valley, Nevada
  7. 2.2 38km E of Tecopa, CA
  8. 1.7 15 km WNW of Sandy Valley, Nevada
  9. 2.4 16km E of Shoshone, CA
  10. 2.0 15 km WNW of Sandy Valley, Nevada
  11. 1.5 29 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada
  12. 2.6 29 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada
  13. 1.9 28km S of Tecopa, CA
  14. 1.7 34 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada
  15. 2.6 35km SE of Tecopa, CA

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.