Earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos, NV

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 116 km (72 mi) from the epicentre. In Gardnerville Ranchos, 42 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). 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 20 km, intensity III · Gardnerville Ranchos 42 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 4,900× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 220× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 4.2 about 35 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 72× 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 since 2016 was M 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 440 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 32 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994
2. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 29 km S of this epicentre Dec 19, 1919
3. 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 49 km NW of this epicentre Dec 17, 1942
4. 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 38 km S of this epicentre Apr 13, 1962
5. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994

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 38.5572, -119.5103. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 3 km ENE of Topaz Lake, Nevada 06:12 UTC
2. 1.7 11 km SE of Smith, Nevada 06:14 UTC
3. 1.9 12 km SE of Smith, Nevada 09:29 UTC
4. 1.7 12 km SE of Smith, Nevada 08:50 UTC
5. 1.5 6 km SE of Topaz Ranch Estates, Nevada 06:29 UTC
6. 1.5 11 km SE of Smith, Nevada 07:35 UTC
7. 2.0 11 km SE of Smith, Nevada 06:00 UTC
8. 2.4 12 km SE of Smith, Nevada 05:59 UTC
9. 1.7 11 km SE of Smith, Nevada 07:28 UTC
10. 1.6 11 km SE of Smith, Nevada 11:13 UTC
11. 1.5 9 km WNW of Topaz Ranch Estates, Nevada 07:31 UTC
12. 1.6 1 km SSW of Coleville, California 02:10 UTC
13. 1.6 11 km W of Bridgeport, California 17:12 UTC
14. 1.6 5 km ESE of Smith, Nevada 00:22 UTC
15. 2.0 6 km SW of Walker, CA 19:54 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 19:05 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.