QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

60km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 60km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA, at 9:01 am PST on 10 December 2021 (17:01 UTC), 2.5 km deep.

· 2.5 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 60 kmEsmeralda County 78 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
2.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 60 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Northern Death Valley fault, 8 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 1798 days ago

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 11 km (7 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 35 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 41 km NE of this epicentre

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 37.1045, -117.3838. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 60 km (37 mi) S earthquakes near Inyo County
Esmeralda County, NV 78 km (49 mi) NNW earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Nye County, NV 126 km (78 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 37km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  2. 1.7 60 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  3. 1.6 51 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  4. 1.9 54km ENE of Big Pine, CA
  5. 2.4 57km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  6. 2.2 57km ENE of Independence, CA
  7. 2.3 57km ENE of Independence, CA
  8. 2.0 57km ENE of Independence, CA
  9. 2.6 57km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  10. 2.1 53km ENE of Big Pine, CA
  11. 1.8 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  12. 1.5 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  13. 1.6 38 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 1.5 34 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  15. 1.6 59 km SSW of Goldfield, 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

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