QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Smith Valley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Smith Valley in the 24 hours to 5:23 am PST (13:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 31 km (20 mi) south-southeast of Smith Valley, NV, at 2:06 am PDT on 19 September 2018 (09:06 UTC), 7.8 km deep.

USGS: 19 km E of Walker, California

2:06 am PDT, Sep 19, 2018 · · 7.8 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Smith Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alpine County 49 kmDouglas County 54 kmLyon County 57 kmMineral County 73 kmMono County 74 kmTuolumne County 83 kmCarson City 83 kmStorey County 106 kmEl Dorado County 115 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
2:06 am PDT on 19 September 2018 ()
Where
31 km (20 mi) south-southeast of Smith Valley, NV · earthquakes near Smith Valley
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alpine County, 49 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Smith Valley fault, 4 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

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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Smith Valley, 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 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 710,000 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. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 32 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 23 km E of Bridgeport, California · 36 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 49 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 38.5109, -119.2531. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alpine County, CA 49 km (30 mi) WNW earthquakes near Alpine County
Douglas County, NV 54 km (33 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 57 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near Lyon County
Mineral County, NV 73 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 74 km (46 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mono County
Tuolumne County, CA 83 km (51 mi) SW earthquakes near Tuolumne County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 22 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  2. 1.6 California-Nevada border region
  3. 1.7 8 km W of Bridgeport, California
  4. 1.8 29 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  5. 1.8 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  6. 2.6 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  7. 2.2 30 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  8. 2.3 8km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  9. 1.7 29 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  10. 2.2 30 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  11. 1.6 27 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  12. 1.6 29 km WSW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  13. 1.6 28 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  14. 1.7 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  15. 1.6 7 km SSE of Topaz Ranch Estates, 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.