Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Gardnerville Ranchos in the 24 hours to 7:38 am PST (15:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 30 km (18 mi) W, at 11:58 pm PDT on 2 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 85 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) south-southeast of Gardnerville Ranchos, NV, at 5:17 pm PDT on 16 October 2021 (00:17 UTC), 4.1 km deep.
USGS: 5km NW of Walker, CA
- When
- 5:17 pm PDT on 16 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) south-southeast of Gardnerville Ranchos, NV · earthquakes near Gardnerville Ranchos
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 4.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alpine County, 26 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Antelope Valley fault, 1 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 1849 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gardnerville Ranchos, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos, 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 Gardnerville Ranchos, 42 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Topaz Ranch Estates, Smith Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 4,900,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 28 km S of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 49 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 37 km S of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 30 km NNW 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 38.5510, -119.5167. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine County, CA | 26 km (16 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Douglas County, NV | 40 km (25 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 59 km (37 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Carson City, NV | 70 km (43 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Tuolumne County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Tuolumne County |
| Mono County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Mono County |
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.
- 2.2 6km NW of Walker, CA
- 2.2 7km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.5 7km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.7 5km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.7 6km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.8 6km SSW of Walker, CA
- 2.5 1km NW of Walker, CA
- 2.1 4km W of Walker, CA
- 1.5 9km ESE of Walker, CA
- 1.9 6km ENE of Walker, CA
- 2.1 5km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.5 6km ENE of Walker, CA
- 1.9 6km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.9 5km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of Walker, 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.