QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 11:52 am PST (19:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) south-southwest of Hawthorne, NV, at 12:28 am PDT on 18 July 2018 (07:28 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 17km SE of Bodie, CA

12:28 am PDT, Jul 18, 2018 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hawthorne Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 22 kmMineral County 59 kmTuolumne County 98 kmAlpine County 100 kmLyon County 105 kmDouglas County 109 kmMariposa County 111 kmEsmeralda County 114 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
12:28 am PDT on 18 July 2018 ()
Where
50 km (31 mi) south-southwest of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 22 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Huntoon Valley fault system, 16 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 3040 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 50 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 790,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 49 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 24 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 45 km ENE 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 38.1170, -118.8545. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 22 km (14 mi) S earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 59 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near Mineral County
Tuolumne County, CA 98 km (61 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Alpine County, CA 100 km (62 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County
Lyon County, NV 105 km (65 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 109 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 27 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  2. 1.8 23 km SSE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  3. 1.5 21km SE of Bodie, CA
  4. 1.9 21km SE of Bodie, CA
  5. 1.6 21km SE of Bodie, CA
  6. 1.9 21km SE of Bodie, CA
  7. 1.6 20km SE of Bodie, CA
  8. 1.7 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  9. 1.7 18km SSE of Bodie, CA
  10. 1.5 27 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  11. 1.5 28 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  12. 1.5 28 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  13. 2.2 19 km N of Benton, California
  14. 1.6 30 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  15. 1.7 20km SSW of Bridgeport, 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.