38km SSW of Qualeys Camp, NV

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 8 km (5 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 42 km NE of this epicentre Jan 30, 1934
2. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 47 km SSW of this epicentre May 25, 1980
3. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 47 km S of this epicentre Sep 14, 1941
4. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 47 km S of this epicentre Sep 14, 1941
5. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 40 km SSW of this epicentre May 25, 1980

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 37.9908, -118.6717. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 11 km NW of Benton, California 05:45 UTC
2. 1.8 34km E of Lee Vining, CA 18:04 UTC
3. 1.5 36 km SW of Mina, Nevada 00:43 UTC
4. 1.6 31 km SSW of Mina, Nevada 12:48 UTC
5. 1.9 31 km SSW of Mina, Nevada 12:48 UTC
6. 1.8 26 km SW of Mina, Nevada 04:45 UTC
7. 1.6 32 km S of Mina, Nevada 16:51 UTC
8. 1.6 41km NNE of Toms Place, CA 07:45 UTC
9. 1.9 8km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA 22:34 UTC
10. 1.9 13 km NW of Benton, California 23:52 UTC
11. 1.6 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA 20:23 UTC
12. 1.6 12 km NW of Benton, California 17:21 UTC
13. 2.2 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA 16:34 UTC
14. 2.0 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA 07:24 UTC
15. 2.1 36 km N of Benton, California 17:32 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 23:46 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.