QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Battle Mountain, NV

USGS: 31 km SSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada

5:21 am PST, Jan 17, 2017 · · 5.8 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lander County 54 kmEureka County 84 kmPershing County 111 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
5:21 am PST on 17 January 2017 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) SSW of Battle Mountain, NV · earthquakes near Battle Mountain
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lander County, 54 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Shoshone Range fault, 3 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 3014 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) SSW of Battle Mountain, NV, at 5:21 am PST on 17 January 2017 (13:21 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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. 6.8 The 1915 Pleasant Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Pleasant Valley, Nevada (Foreshock) · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 31 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada · 18 km NW 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 40.3851, -117.0995. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lander County, NV 54 km (34 mi) S earthquakes near Lander County
Eureka County, NV 84 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Eureka County
Pershing County, NV 111 km (69 mi) W earthquakes near Pershing County
Churchill County, NV 137 km (85 mi) SW earthquakes near Churchill County
Humboldt County, NV 143 km (89 mi) NW earthquakes near Humboldt County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 Nevada
  2. 3.1 5 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  3. 2.4 18 km SSW of Crescent Valley, Nevada
  4. 2.5 32 km SSW of Crescent Valley, Nevada
  5. 1.6 32 km SSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada
  6. 1.5 62 km SE of Imlay, Nevada
  7. 2.5 75 km NNW of Austin, Nevada
  8. 2.0 74 km NNW of Austin, Nevada
  9. 1.8 68 km NNW of Austin, Nevada
  10. 1.6 24 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada
  11. 2.1 7 km SW of Valmy, Nevada
  12. 2.8 41 km SW of Valmy, Nevada
  13. 1.8 18 km S of Battle Mountain, Nevada
  14. 2.2 19 km NW of Crescent Valley, Nevada
  15. 1.8 41 km SSW of Golconda, 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.