Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 7:58 am PST (15:58 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) north-northwest of Hawthorne, NV, at 1:57 am PDT on 20 September 2016 (08:57 UTC), 3.9 km deep.
USGS: California-Nevada border region
- When
- 1:57 am PDT on 20 September 2016 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) north-northwest of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lyon County, 43 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Wassuk Range 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 3056 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 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 40 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- 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 in our catalogue was M 4.5 on 2016-07-07 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.
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 38.8794, -118.7299. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyon County, NV | 43 km (27 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Mineral County, NV | 49 km (30 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Douglas County, NV | 76 km (47 mi) | W | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Churchill County, NV | 83 km (52 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Storey County, NV | 93 km (57 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 93 km (58 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Carson City |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 22 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
- 2.0 21 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
- 2.5 17 km ENE of Yerington, Nevada
- 2.6 17 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
- 1.5 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
- 1.5 24 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 2.5 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
- 1.7 23 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.8 23 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 3.8 23 km NNE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.5 10 km N of Schurz, Nevada
- 1.8 8 km ESE of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.7 24 km NE of Schurz, Nevada
- 2.5 35 km SE of Fallon Station, Nevada
- 2.6 28 km WNW of Gabbs, 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.