Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
Earthquake near Ely, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Ely in the 24 hours to 8:15 pm PST (04:15 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 49 km (30 mi) SW, at 5:55 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Ely
This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) west-northwest of Ely, NV, at 5:08 am PST on 4 December 2016 (13:08 UTC), 1.5 km deep.
USGS: 40 km WNW of Ruth, Nevada
- When
- 5:08 am PST on 4 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) west-northwest of Ely, NV · earthquakes near Ely
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- White Pine County, 47 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3055 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ely, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ely, 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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Ely, 50 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 4.0 on 2016-06-03 — about 16 times the energy of this one.
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 39.3753, -115.4403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Pine County, NV | 47 km (29 mi) | E | earthquakes near White Pine County |
| Eureka County, NV | 98 km (61 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Eureka County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 3 km NE of Ruth, Nevada
- 1.5 2 km WSW of Ruth, Nevada
- 1.8 41 km NW of Preston, Nevada
- 1.7 2 km W of Ruth, Nevada
- 2.0 5 km SW of Ruth, Nevada
- 2.1 Nevada
- 1.8 3 km ENE of Ruth, Nevada
- 2.2 4 km SSE of Ruth, Nevada
- 1.8 5 km WSW of Ruth, Nevada
- 1.8 2 km SSW of Ruth, Nevada
- 1.8 4 km W of Ruth, Nevada
- 1.5 22 km NE of Eureka, Nevada
- 1.8 7 km WSW of Ruth, Nevada
- 2.1 3 km NNW of Ely, Nevada
- 1.8 5 km W of Ruth, 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.