QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 9:38 pm PST (05:38 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 41 km (26 mi) west of Hawthorne, NV, at 8:50 pm PST on 17 December 2018 (04:50 UTC), 9.1 km deep.

USGS: 29 km WSW of Walker Lake, Nevada

8:50 pm PST, Dec 17, 2018 · · 9.1 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hawthorne Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 48 kmDouglas County 57 kmMineral County 59 kmAlpine County 62 kmMono County 78 kmCarson City 84 kmTuolumne County 99 kmStorey County 101 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
8:50 pm PST on 17 December 2018 ()
Where
41 km (26 mi) west of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 48 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Smith Valley 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 2886 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 41 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 1,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 48 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 21 km S of Hawthorne, Nevada · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 23 km E of Bridgeport, California · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 36 km W 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 38.5949, -119.0910. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 48 km (30 mi) N earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 57 km (35 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County
Mineral County, NV 59 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Mineral County
Alpine County, CA 62 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine County
Mono County, CA 78 km (48 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mono County
Carson City, NV 84 km (52 mi) NW earthquakes near Carson City

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 28 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  2. 1.6 18 km ENE of Walker Lake, Nevada
  3. 1.6 30 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  4. 1.5 29 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  5. 2.1 24km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
  6. 1.5 California-Nevada border region
  7. 1.5 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  8. 1.6 28 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  9. 1.6 14 km NNE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  10. 2.7 15 km NNE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  11. 2.0 28 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  12. 2.4 19km E of Markleeville, CA
  13. 1.8 29 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  14. 1.6 28 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  15. 1.9 7km WSW of Bridgeport, CA

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.