Earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates, NV

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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Topaz Ranch Estates, 6 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.

Likely felt in: Topaz Ranch Estates 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 22 km WNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994
2. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 38 km NNE of this epicentre Jan 11, 1939
3. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 47 km S of this epicentre Dec 19, 1919
4. 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 43 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 17, 1942
5. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 24 km WNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994

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 38.7180, -119.4399. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.5 7km SSW of Markleeville, CA 08:48 UTC
2. 1.6 1 km SW of Walker, California 20:29 UTC
3. 1.6 6 km SE of Carter Springs, Nevada 05:40 UTC
4. 1.8 3 km NW of Topaz, California 02:25 UTC
5. 1.7 10 km SE of Markleeville, California 17:44 UTC
6. 1.8 11 km SE of Markleeville, California 15:45 UTC
7. 2.3 11km SE of Markleeville, CA 15:42 UTC
8. 1.5 5 km WSW of Topaz Lake, Nevada 17:22 UTC
9. 1.9 16 km NNW of Bridgeport, California 18:35 UTC
10. 1.5 10 km WNW of Bridgeport, California 17:55 UTC
11. 1.8 18 km S of Markleeville, California 00:49 UTC
12. 1.9 17 km NNW of Bridgeport, California 02:55 UTC
13. 1.6 7 km SSE of Markleeville, California 20:48 UTC
14. 2.5 12 km NW of Bridgeport, California 15:27 UTC
15. 1.7 16 km NNW of Bridgeport, California 15:19 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 16:57 UTC. 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.