QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.8md

39 km SSW of Qualeys Camp, NV

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 39 km SSW of Qualeys Camp, NV, at 12:52 am PDT on 20 October 2026 (07:52 UTC), 11 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 11 km deep · released about 550 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 19 kmMineral County 64 kmEsmeralda County 94 kmTuolumne County 114 kmMariposa County 118 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 19 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Huntoon Valley fault system, 5 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 13 hours ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. 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 550 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 28,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 550 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 14,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 43 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 43 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 45 km S 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 37.9763, -118.6690. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 19 km (12 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 64 km (40 mi) NNE earthquakes near Mineral County
Esmeralda County, NV 94 km (58 mi) ESE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tuolumne County, CA 114 km (71 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Mariposa County, CA 118 km (73 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mariposa County
Alpine County, CA 122 km (76 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.7 32 km SE of Bodie, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.