QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Lovelock, NV

USGS: 2 km SE of Humboldt, Nevada

2:42 pm PDT, Oct 8, 2018 · · 6.2 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lovelock Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pershing County 22 kmHumboldt County 92 kmChurchill County 117 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
2:42 pm PDT on 8 October 2018 ()
Where
50 km (31 mi) NNE of Lovelock, NV · earthquakes near Lovelock
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pershing County, 22 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Western Humboldt Range fault, 9 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 2916 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) NNE of Lovelock, NV, at 2:42 pm PDT on 8 October 2018 (21:42 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 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 33 km NW of Imlay, Nevada · 37 km NNW 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 40.5888, -118.2330. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pershing County, NV 22 km (14 mi) SW earthquakes near Pershing County
Humboldt County, NV 92 km (57 mi) N earthquakes near Humboldt County
Churchill County, NV 117 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Churchill County
Lander County, NV 126 km (79 mi) SE earthquakes near Lander County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 25 km SW of Humboldt, Nevada
  2. 1.6 34 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  3. 1.5 6 km SSE of Humboldt, Nevada
  4. 1.9 30 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  5. 1.8 35 km SSE of Humboldt, Nevada
  6. 1.7 29 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  7. 1.5 31 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  8. 1.6 29 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  9. 1.7 30 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  10. 2.6 37 km ESE of Imlay, Nevada
  11. 1.6 27 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  12. 1.6 26 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  13. 1.9 28 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  14. 1.9 32 km NW of Lovelock, Nevada
  15. 1.7 29 km ENE of Lovelock, 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.