QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Yerington, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Yerington in the 24 hours to 4:27 am PST (12:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 22 km (14 mi) NNE, at 6:55 pm PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Yerington

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south of Yerington, NV, at 7:30 am PDT on 4 September 2016 (14:30 UTC), 25 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 14 km S of Yerington, Nevada

98 km (61 mi) SE of Reno, NV

7:30 am PDT, Sep 4, 2016 · · 25 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 19 kmDouglas County 40 kmCarson City 61 kmAlpine County 62 kmStorey County 72 kmMineral County 74 kmChurchill County 107 kmMono County 107 kmTuolumne County 117 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
7:30 am PDT on 4 September 2016 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south of Yerington, NV · earthquakes near Yerington
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 19 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Smith Valley fault, 25 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 3723 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Yerington, 14 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Smith, Smith Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.5 on 2016-07-07 — about 11,000 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 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 38 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 44 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 16 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 26 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 27 km N 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 38.8587, -119.1462. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 19 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 40 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Douglas County
Carson City, NV 61 km (38 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carson City
Alpine County, CA 62 km (39 mi) WSW earthquakes near Alpine County
Storey County, NV 72 km (45 mi) NNW earthquakes near Storey County
Mineral County, NV 74 km (46 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mineral County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
  2. 2.2 5 km ESE of Walker, California
  3. 1.8 4 km NE of Topaz Ranch Estates, Nevada
  4. 3.3 3 km WNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  5. 1.5 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
  6. 1.6 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
  7. 1.7 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
  8. 3.9 11 km N of Schurz, Nevada
  9. 2.1 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
  10. 1.5 California-Nevada border region
  11. 1.5 9 km NW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  12. 2.0 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
  13. 1.7 2 km NW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  14. 2.8 2 km WNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  15. 1.7 5 km NW of Topaz 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

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