QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Reno, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 5:13 am PST (13:13 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Reno

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV, at 6:10 pm PDT on 22 May 2018 (01:10 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 11 km NW of Wadsworth, Nevada

44 km (27 mi) ENE of Reno, NV · 32 km (20 mi) ENE of Sparks, NV

6:10 pm PDT, May 22, 2018 · · 12 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Reno Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 32 kmCarson City 69 kmLyon County 78 kmDouglas County 91 kmChurchill County 97 kmSierra County 99 kmPershing County 116 kmWashoe County 116 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
6:10 pm PDT on 22 May 2018 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 32 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Olinghouse fault, 5 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 3097 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Reno, 42 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Fernley, Spanish Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 21 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 7 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 12 km SSE of Reno, Nevada · 47 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 35 km ENE of Nixon, Nevada · 46 km NE 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 39.7072, -119.3780. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 32 km (20 mi) SSW earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 69 km (43 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carson City
Lyon County, NV 78 km (48 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 91 km (57 mi) SSW earthquakes near Douglas County
Churchill County, NV 97 km (60 mi) E earthquakes near Churchill County
Sierra County, CA 99 km (62 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 5 km ENE of Lemmon Valley, Nevada
  2. 1.6 10 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  3. 1.6 1 km SSE of Golden Valley, Nevada
  4. 1.5 13 km E of Fernley, Nevada
  5. 1.8 12 km NE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  6. 2.1 12 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  7. 1.9 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  8. 1.6 11 km SE of Fernley, Nevada
  9. 1.5 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  10. 1.6 7 km SE of Fernley, Nevada
  11. 1.5 1 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  12. 1.8 1 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  13. 1.7 0 km NNE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  14. 1.6 0 km N of Sun Valley, Nevada
  15. 1.7 0 km NNE of Sun Valley, 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.