Earthquake near Ely, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Ely in the 24 hours to 9:33 pm PST (05:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 49 km (30 mi) SW, at 5:55 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Ely

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.8 explosion was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west-northwest of Ely, NV, at 1:36 pm PDT on 23 April 2018 (20:36 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of Ruth, Nevada

1:36 pm PDT, Apr 23, 2018 · 2018-04-23 20:36 UTC · 0.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ely Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 1:36 pm PDT on 23 April 2018 (2018-04-23 20:36 UTC)
Where: 14 km (9 mi) west-northwest of Ely, NV · earthquakes near Ely
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: 0.0 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: White Pine County, 20 km NE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3125 days ago · we first saw it 3125 days ago

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Ely, 14 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: McGill.

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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
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 since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
White Pine County, NV	20 km (12 mi)	NE	earthquakes near White Pine County
Eureka County, NV	131 km (81 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Eureka County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 05:33 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.