Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Topaz Ranch Estates in the 24 hours to 12:14 am PST (08:14 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) south of Topaz Ranch Estates, NV, at 12:34 am PDT on 16 September 2021 (07:34 UTC), 7.1 km deep.
USGS: 26km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- When
- 12:34 am PDT on 16 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 35 km (22 mi) south of Topaz Ranch Estates, NV · earthquakes near Topaz Ranch Estates
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 7.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alpine County, 31 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Walker River 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 1883 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Topaz Ranch Estates, 35 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 8.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 3,700,000 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 · 45 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 14 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 24 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 18 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 38.4215, -119.5572. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Douglas County, NV | 54 km (34 mi) | N | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Tuolumne County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tuolumne County |
| Lyon County, NV | 74 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Mono County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Carson City, NV | 83 km (52 mi) | NNW | 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 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.7 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.2 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.8 32km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.1 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 3.6 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.9 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.8 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 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
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.