Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Topaz Ranch Estates in the 24 hours to 11:29 am PST (19:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) SW, at 6:36 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) south of Topaz Ranch Estates, NV, at 7:59 am PDT on 15 September 2021 (14:59 UTC), 7.1 km deep.
USGS: 25km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- When
- 7:59 am PDT on 15 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) south of Topaz Ranch Estates, NV · earthquakes near Topaz Ranch Estates
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 7.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alpine County, 34 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Walker River fault, 9 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 1879 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Topaz Ranch Estates, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Topaz Ranch Estates, 39 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
- 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 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 3,100,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 49 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 11 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 20 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 45 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 22 km NNE 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 38.3878, -119.5517. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Tuolumne County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tuolumne County |
| Douglas County, NV | 58 km (36 mi) | N | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 77 km (48 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Mono County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Carson City, NV | 87 km (54 mi) | N | earthquakes near Carson City |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.5 4 km NNE of Walker, California
- 1.7 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.7 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.8 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.4 31km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.5 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.3 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.5 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.8 26km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.5 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.6 25km ENE of Dardanelle, 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
- 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.