Earthquake near Sandy Valley, NV

USGS: 38 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada

87 km (54 mi) SSW of Las Vegas, NV

2:14 pm PDT, Aug 27, 2018 · 2018-08-27 21:14 UTC · 0.1 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

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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: 2:14 pm PDT on 27 August 2018 (2018-08-27 21:14 UTC)
Where: 39 km (24 mi) SSE of Sandy Valley, NV · earthquakes near Sandy Valley
Magnitude: M 1.5 (ml)
Depth: 0.1 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: San Bernardino County, 91 km SW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2958 days ago · we first saw it 2958 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) SSE of Sandy Valley, NV, at 2:14 pm PDT on 27 August 2018 (21:14 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 35.4788, -115.5269. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
San Bernardino County, CA	91 km (57 mi)	SW	earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Clark County, NV	94 km (58 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Clark County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.8 21 km SW of Primm, NV 22:15 UTC
1.9 21 km SW of Primm, NV 22:15 UTC
2.1 21 km SW of Primm, NV 22:15 UTC
2.0 21 km SW of Primm, NV 22:15 UTC
2.1 21 km SW of Primm, NV 22:15 UTC
2.3 17km SW of Primm, NV 22:15 UTC
2.1 16 km SW of Primm, NV 22:16 UTC
1.5 25 km SW of Sandy Valley, Nevada 12:10 UTC
2.3 20km SW of Primm, NV 21:15 UTC
2.3 40 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada 21:15 UTC
1.9 39 km S of Goodsprings, Nevada 21:15 UTC
2.3 22km SW of Primm, NV 22:50 UTC
2.1 21km SW of Primm, NV 21:15 UTC
2.2 21km SW of Primm, NV 18:15 UTC
2.1 18km SW of Primm, NV 21:15 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 01:35 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.