QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada, at 9:26 pm PST on 21 December 2016 (05:26 UTC), 5.4 km deep.

· 5.4 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 56 kmInyo County 81 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 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 56 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley fault, 9 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

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 15 km (9 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 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 26 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 41 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 37.2874, -117.5216. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 56 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 81 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Inyo County
Nye County, NV 120 km (75 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County
Mono County, CA 138 km (86 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Tulare County, CA 163 km (101 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 61 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  2. 1.5 California-Nevada border region
  3. 1.8 50 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  4. 1.5 25 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  5. 1.8 8 km SW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  6. 1.9 63 km NNE of Keeler, California
  7. 1.6 34 km NW of Beatty, Nevada
  8. 1.5 31 km NW of Beatty, Nevada
  9. 2.3 38 km ENE of Big Pine, California
  10. 1.9 53km ENE of Independence, CA
  11. 1.7 24 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  12. 1.8 53 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  13. 2.2 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  14. 1.7 17 km SE of Dyer, Nevada
  15. 2.4 16 km SE of Dyer, 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.