QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Winnemucca, NV

USGS: 16 km NW of Valmy, Nevada

7:49 pm PST, Feb 24, 2018 · · 3.2 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 92 kmPershing County 111 kmLander County 114 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
7:49 pm PST on 24 February 2018 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) E of Winnemucca, NV · earthquakes near Winnemucca
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
3.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humboldt County, 92 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Sulphur Spring fault, 7 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 3141 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) E of Winnemucca, NV, at 7:49 pm PST on 24 February 2018 (03:49 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 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 Near Winnemucca, Nevada · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 31 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada · 46 km S 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 40.9114, -117.2428. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, NV 92 km (57 mi) NW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Pershing County, NV 111 km (69 mi) WSW earthquakes near Pershing County
Lander County, NV 114 km (71 mi) S earthquakes near Lander County
Eureka County, NV 132 km (82 mi) SE earthquakes near Eureka County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 Nevada
  2. 2.4 Nevada
  3. 3.1 5 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  4. 1.6 50 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  5. 2.7 50 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  6. 1.9 50 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  7. 1.7 49 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  8. 1.9 49 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
  9. 2.0 41 km NNE of Valmy, Nevada
  10. 2.1 14 km NNE of Golconda, Nevada
  11. 2.1 34 km NNE of Valmy, Nevada
  12. 3.2 11 km NW of Valmy, Nevada
  13. 1.6 24 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada
  14. 3.7 18 km NNE of Golconda, Nevada
  15. 2.5 16 km N 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.