Earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates, NV

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Topaz Ranch Estates, 8 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.

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

1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 17 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994
2. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 47 km NE of this epicentre Jan 11, 1939
3. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 43 km S of this epicentre Dec 19, 1919
4. 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 35 km NW of this epicentre Dec 17, 1942
5. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 16 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 38.6853, -119.5663. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.2 5 km N of Johnson Lane, Nevada 17:41 UTC
2. 1.6 7 km ENE of Coleville, California 20:04 UTC
3. 2.3 20 km E of Markleeville, CA 01:36 UTC
4. 1.6 4 km SW of Walker, California 17:52 UTC
5. 1.6 13 km SE of Markleeville, CA 23:49 UTC
6. 2.0 14 km SE of Markleeville, CA 14:07 UTC
7. 2.0 6 km SSW of Smith Valley, Nevada 12:40 UTC
8. 1.7 3 km SE of East Valley, Nevada 13:58 UTC
9. 2.7 3 km W of Walker, CA 08:54 UTC
10. 1.9 15 km SE of Markleeville, CA 07:14 UTC
11. 1.9 14 km SE of Markleeville, CA 06:55 UTC
12. 2.3 15 km SE of Markleeville, CA 06:54 UTC
13. 2.3 15 km ESE of Markleeville, CA 21:52 UTC
14. 2.0 2 km SW of Walker, CA 09:38 UTC
15. 1.6 5 km ENE of Johnson Lane, Nevada 14:55 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 18:21 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.