QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6ml

2 km WSW of Burning Man Earth, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km WSW of Burning Man Earth, Nevada, at 1:53 am PDT on 8 May 2016 (08:53 UTC), 8.3 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 8.3 km deep · released about 3.8 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washoe County 35 kmPershing County 79 kmLassen County 116 kmHumboldt County 119 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 3.6 (ml)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Washoe County, 35 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Gerlach fault, 6 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 1611 days 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 69 km (43 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 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 40.7593, -119.2499. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Washoe County, NV 35 km (22 mi) W earthquakes near Washoe County
Pershing County, NV 79 km (49 mi) ESE earthquakes near Pershing County
Lassen County, CA 116 km (72 mi) W earthquakes near Lassen County
Humboldt County, NV 119 km (74 mi) NE earthquakes near Humboldt County

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. 1.7 4 km NE of Empire, Nevada
  2. 1.8 31 km ENE of Black Rock City, Nevada
  3. 1.9 37 km NW of Gerlach, Nevada
  4. 1.8 19 km SSW of Empire, Nevada
  5. 1.6 9 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  6. 1.5 26 km NNE of Black Rock City, Nevada
  7. 1.7 26 km SSW of Empire, Nevada
  8. 1.9 9 km WNW of Gerlach, Nevada
  9. 1.5 10 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  10. 2.1 2 km NNW of Gerlach, Nevada
  11. 1.8 11 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  12. 2.5 8 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  13. 2.2 10 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  14. 1.6 12 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  15. 1.5 10 km W of Gerlach, 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

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