QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

13 km ESE of Sparks, Nevada

· 0.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 9 kmCarson City 37 kmLyon County 62 kmDouglas County 63 kmSierra County 78 kmAlpine County 95 kmNevada County 101 kmPlacer County 105 kmEl Dorado County 109 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 9 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2916 days ago

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 39.4683, -119.6227. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Storey County, NV 9 km (6 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 37 km (23 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Carson City
Lyon County, NV 62 km (38 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 63 km (39 mi) N of here earthquakes near Douglas County
Sierra County, CA 78 km (49 mi) E of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Alpine County, CA 95 km (59 mi) N of here earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 0 km N of Sun Valley, Nevada
  2. 1.7 0 km NNE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  3. 1.5 0 km NNE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  4. 1.7 13 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
  5. 1.7 3 km S of Floriston, California
  6. 1.5 3 km S of Floriston, California
  7. 1.9 7 km SW of Virginia City, Nevada
  8. 3.7 8 km SW of Virginia City, Nevada
  9. 1.9 7 km SW of Virginia City, Nevada
  10. 2.4 8 km SW of Virginia City, Nevada
  11. 2.8 14km N of Kings Beach, CA
  12. 2.6 14km N of Tahoe Vista, CA
  13. 1.8 14 km E of Fernley, Nevada
  14. 1.5 13 km E of Fernley, Nevada
  15. 1.7 11 km E of Fernley, 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.