Earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos, NV

This was a strong earthquake. Damage is likely near the epicentre and it is felt over a wide area.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 347 km (216 mi) from the epicentre. In Gardnerville Ranchos, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity V (moderate). 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.

Likely felt in: Topaz Ranch Estates 25 km, intensity V · Gardnerville Ranchos 47 km, intensity V. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 kilotons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 7.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Ridgecrest, California 2019 M 7.1 45× the energy of this one
2. Loma Prieta, California 1989 M 6.9 22× the energy of this one
3. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 11× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 6.0 about 15 kilotons of TNT
5. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 this one released 2× more
6. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 this one released 2.8× more

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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 37 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994
2. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 23 km S of this epicentre Dec 19, 1919
3. 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 32 km S of this epicentre Apr 13, 1962
4. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 35 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994
5. 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 8 km N of this epicentre Apr 5, 1915

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 38.5075, -119.4998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.9 32km SE of Markleeville, CA 00:32 UTC
2. 2.0 34km SSW of Smith Valley, NV 00:31 UTC
3. 1.6 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:31 UTC
4. 2.7 30km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:31 UTC
5. 4.4 32km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:27 UTC
6. 1.9 29km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:20 UTC
7. 2.6 30km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:20 UTC
8. 2.6 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:19 UTC
9. 2.9 4km W of Walker, CA 00:17 UTC
10. 2.9 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:15 UTC
11. 2.7 31km SE of Markleeville, CA 00:12 UTC
12. 1.7 2 km SSE of Coleville, California 00:10 UTC
13. 2.4 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA 00:05 UTC
14. 3.9 31km NW of Bridgeport, CA 00:05 UTC
15. 3.6 28km SE of Markleeville, CA 00:03 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 09:50 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.