QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Moapa Valley, NV

USGS: 5 km WNW of Moapa Valley, Nevada

77 km (48 mi) ENE of Las Vegas, NV

12:41 pm PDT, Aug 8, 2018 · · 0.0 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Moapa Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 60 kmWashington County 119 kmMohave County 119 kmLincoln County 120 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
12:41 pm PDT on 8 August 2018 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) WNW of Moapa Valley, NV · earthquakes near Moapa Valley
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clark County, 60 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
California Wash fault, 11 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 2977 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) WNW of Moapa Valley, NV, at 12:41 pm PDT on 8 August 2018 (19:41 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Moapa Town.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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

Epicentre 36.5897, -114.5254. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, NV 60 km (38 mi) SW earthquakes near Clark County
Washington County, UT 119 km (74 mi) NE earthquakes near Washington County
Mohave County, AZ 119 km (74 mi) SE earthquakes near Mohave County
Lincoln County, NV 120 km (75 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lincoln 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.

  1. 3.5 28 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada
  2. 2.5 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  3. 2.7 33 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  4. 3.6 32 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  5. 2.3 30 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada
  6. 2.1 32 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  7. 1.8 31 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada
  8. 3.3 32 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  9. 1.7 33 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  10. 2.6 30 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  11. 2.2 33 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  12. 3.4 32 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  13. 2.6 29 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  14. 2.9 30 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  15. 2.2 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona

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.