QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Yerington, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Yerington in the 24 hours to 3:53 pm PST (23:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 22 km (14 mi) NNE, at 6:55 pm PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Yerington

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) east of Yerington, NV, at 12:51 am PDT on 17 August 2018 (07:51 UTC), 9.4 km deep.

USGS: 5 km N of Schurz, Nevada

12:51 am PDT, Aug 17, 2018 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 34 kmMineral County 63 kmDouglas County 70 kmChurchill County 76 kmStorey County 79 kmCarson City 83 kmAlpine County 96 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
12:51 am PDT on 17 August 2018 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) east of Yerington, NV · earthquakes near Yerington
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 34 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range 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 3006 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Yerington, 31 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2016-07-07 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 17 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada · 49 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 21 km SSE of Fallon Station, Nevada · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 34 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 11 km WNW 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 38.9971, -118.8056. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 34 km (21 mi) W earthquakes near Lyon County
Mineral County, NV 63 km (39 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mineral County
Douglas County, NV 70 km (44 mi) W earthquakes near Douglas County
Churchill County, NV 76 km (47 mi) NE earthquakes near Churchill County
Storey County, NV 79 km (49 mi) NW earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 83 km (52 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carson City

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 23 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  2. 1.9 9 km NNE of Schurz, Nevada
  3. 2.0 14 km ENE of Walker Lake, Nevada
  4. 1.5 10 km NW of Schurz, Nevada
  5. 2.5 9 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
  6. 1.5 34 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  7. 1.8 19 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada
  8. 1.5 40 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  9. 1.9 9 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  10. 1.5 Nevada
  11. 1.5 24 km NE of Schurz, Nevada
  12. 1.9 6 km E of Smith, Nevada
  13. 1.6 12 km N of Walker Lake, Nevada
  14. 2.0 14 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada
  15. 1.6 17 km S of Schurz, 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.