Earthquake near Ely, NV

USGS: 3 km N of Ruth, Nevada

1:22 pm PDT, Sep 19, 2018 · 2018-09-19 20:22 UTC · 0.5 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ely Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 1:22 pm PDT on 19 September 2018 (2018-09-19 20:22 UTC)
Where: 12 km (7 mi) NW of Ely, NV · earthquakes near Ely
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: 0.5 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: White Pine County, 14 km NE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2935 days ago · we first saw it 2935 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) NW of Ely, NV, at 1:22 pm PDT on 19 September 2018 (20:22 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: McGill.

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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
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 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 39.3105, -114.9948. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
White Pine County, NV	14 km (9 mi)	NE	earthquakes near White Pine County
Eureka County, NV	132 km (82 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Eureka County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.9 4 km S of Ruth, Nevada 21:20 UTC
2.3 2 km WSW of Ruth, Nevada 19:25 UTC
1.5 8 km SW of Ruth, Nevada 20:15 UTC
2.9 22 km ESE of McGill, Nevada 14:32 UTC
2.8 15 km NW of McGill, Nevada 13:07 UTC
2.4 24 km WNW of Ruth, Nevada 07:01 UTC
2.5 3 km SW of Ely, Nevada 03:20 UTC
2.2 19 km NNW of Ruth, Nevada 14:23 UTC
1.7 11 km SSW of Ruth, Nevada 01:37 UTC
2.1 23 km SW of Ruth, Nevada 12:50 UTC
1.8 35 km WNW of Ruth, Nevada 04:33 UTC
1.5 14 km NNW of Preston, Nevada 07:44 UTC
1.6 22 km WNW of Ruth, Nevada 13:24 UTC
2.4 11 km WSW of Ruth, Nevada 19:31 UTC
1.9 1 km WSW of Ruth, Nevada 20:21 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:12 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.