QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

12 km SE of Sparks, Nevada

· 1.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 10 kmCarson City 37 kmLyon County 62 kmDouglas County 63 kmSierra County 77 kmAlpine County 95 kmNevada County 100 kmPlacer County 104 kmEl Dorado County 109 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
1.0 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Storey County, 10 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3098 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

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.

Where

Epicentre 39.4697, -119.6344. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Storey County, NV 10 km (6 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 37 km (23 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Carson City
Lyon County, NV 62 km (39 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 63 km (39 mi) N of here earthquakes near Douglas County
Sierra County, CA 77 km (48 mi) E of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Alpine County, CA 95 km (59 mi) N of here earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 5 km ENE of Indian Hills, Nevada
  2. 1.8 5 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
  3. 1.6 5 km SE of Carson City, Nevada
  4. 3.2 5 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
  5. 1.5 6 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
  6. 2.2 10 km NNE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  7. 2.2 9 km NNE of Glenbrook, Nevada
  8. 1.7 10 km E of Sparks, Nevada
  9. 3.0 4km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  10. 1.6 0 km WNW of Carnelian Bay, California
  11. 1.6 13 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
  12. 1.7 1 km W of Carnelian Bay, California
  13. 1.9 11 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
  14. 1.7 9 km SSE of Fernley, Nevada
  15. 1.6 1 km WNW of Carnelian Bay, California

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.