explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Dayton, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Dayton in the 24 hours to 7:35 am PST (15:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (30 mi) E, at 6:36 pm PDT on 4 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Dayton
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 explosion was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west of Dayton, NV, at 1:03 pm PST on 23 February 2018 (21:03 UTC), 1.4 km deep.
USGS: 6 km W of Dayton, Nevada
12 km (8 mi) NE of Carson, NV · 38 km (23 mi) SSE of Reno, NV
- When
- 1:03 pm PST on 23 February 2018 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) west of Dayton, NV · earthquakes near Dayton
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Carson City, 12 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Carson City fault, 10 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 3185 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dayton, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Dayton, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Dayton, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Carson City, Indian Hills, Johnson Lane, Incline Village, Stagecoach.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 41 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 47 km S of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 31 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 50 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 39.2417, -119.6638. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carson City, NV | 12 km (8 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Storey County, NV | 25 km (15 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Douglas County, NV | 38 km (23 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 47 km (29 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Alpine County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | S | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Sierra County, CA | 83 km (51 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 10 km NNE of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 2.2 9 km NNE of Glenbrook, Nevada
- 1.7 10 km E of Sparks, Nevada
- 3.0 4km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
- 1.6 0 km WNW of Carnelian Bay, California
- 1.6 13 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
- 2.1 0 km WNW of Skyland, Nevada
- 1.7 1 km W of Carnelian Bay, California
- 1.9 11 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
- 1.6 1 km WNW of Carnelian Bay, California
- 1.6 8 km NE of Incline Village, Nevada
- 2.3 8 km NE of Incline Village, Nevada
- 2.0 13 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.7 8 km NE of Incline Village, Nevada
- 1.5 13 km ESE of Sparks, 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.