QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Lovelock, NV

USGS: 29 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada

8:55 am PDT, Aug 23, 2018 · · 4.1 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lovelock Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pershing County 29 kmChurchill County 82 kmLander County 103 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
8:55 am PDT on 23 August 2018 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) ENE of Lovelock, NV · earthquakes near Lovelock
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pershing County, 29 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Eastern Humboldt Range fault, 18 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 2962 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) ENE of Lovelock, NV, at 8:55 am PDT on 23 August 2018 (15:55 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.8 The 1915 Pleasant Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 48 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 Western Nevada · 33 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 12 km WSW of Lovelock, Nevada · 41 km WSW 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 40.2719, -118.1501. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pershing County, NV 29 km (18 mi) NW earthquakes near Pershing County
Churchill County, NV 82 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Churchill County
Lander County, NV 103 km (64 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lander County
Storey County, NV 150 km (93 mi) SW earthquakes near Storey 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. 1.5 31 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  2. 1.6 58 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  3. 1.6 29 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  4. 1.7 30 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  5. 1.9 63 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  6. 1.7 51 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  7. 2.6 37 km ESE of Imlay, Nevada
  8. 3.1 64 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  9. 1.5 53 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  10. 3.2 57 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  11. 2.0 63 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  12. 1.9 58 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  13. 2.6 60 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  14. 1.6 27 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  15. 1.6 26 km ENE of Lovelock, 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.