Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
50 km ENE of Fallon Station, Nevada
Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 50 km ENE of Fallon Station, Nevada, at 11:47 am PDT on 18 September 2018 (18:47 UTC), 7.9 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Churchill County, 10 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Dixie Valley fault, 2 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
Earthquake alerts for Fallon, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fallon, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. 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 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 lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.1 The 1954 Fairview Peak, Nevada Earthquake · 45 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.9 The 1954 Dixie Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 27 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.5 17 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada · 38 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 40 km S of Lovelock, Nevada · 36 km NW 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 39.5819, -118.1644. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill County, NV | 10 km (6 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Pershing County, NV | 98 km (61 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Pershing County |
| Lander County, NV | 102 km (63 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Lander County |
| Lyon County, NV | 109 km (67 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Storey County, NV | 118 km (73 mi) | W | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Mineral County, NV | 120 km (75 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 34 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.9 57 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
- 1.7 53 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada
- 1.7 58 km WNW of Austin, Nevada
- 1.5 41 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada
- 2.3 56 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
- 1.7 67 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada
- 1.6 44 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.7 33 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada
- 1.9 39 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.0 22 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada
- 2.6 61 km W of Austin, Nevada
- 1.8 39 km NE of Fallon, Nevada
- 1.7 56 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
- 1.7 52.7 km SSE of Gabbs, NV
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
- 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.