Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 3:16 pm PST (23:16 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Hawthorne, NV, at 7:16 pm PDT on 4 April 2016 (02:16 UTC), 3.2 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 22 km ESE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- When
- 7:16 pm PDT on 4 April 2016 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Mineral County, 6 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Indian Head fault, 13 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 1560 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hawthorne, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hawthorne, 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 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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 22 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: Hawthorne 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 4.3 on 2016-03-21 — about 63 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 26 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 22 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 19 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km SW of Gabbs, Nevada · 49 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 18 km S of Gabbs, Nevada · 49 km ENE 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 38.4736, -118.3807. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral County, NV | 6 km (4 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Mono County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Lyon County, NV | 93 km (58 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 101 km (63 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Douglas County, NV | 117 km (73 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Churchill County, NV | 119 km (74 mi) | N | earthquakes near Churchill County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 30 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 2.0 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 2.0 California-Nevada border region
- 1.6 3 km WNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 4.5 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 2.3 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 4.3 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 2.6 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 2.6 12 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 2.2 29 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.7 28 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.9 29 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.9 California-Nevada border region
- 1.9 19 km SSE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.8 3 km WNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
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.