16 km SW of Silver Peak, Nevada

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 45 km NNW of this epicentre Nov 21, 1910
2. 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 50 km NW of this epicentre Aug 9, 1943
3. 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 45 km NNW of this epicentre Nov 19, 1910
4. 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 45 km NNW of this epicentre Nov 22, 1910
5. 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 38 km NNE of this epicentre Feb 11, 1949

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 37.6422, -117.7506. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 2.1 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA 14:39 UTC
2. 2.0 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA 07:17 UTC
3. 2.2 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA 01:59 UTC
4. 2.6 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA 01:46 UTC
5. 1.9 49 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada 19:42 UTC
6. 1.7 51 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada 03:41 UTC
7. 1.9 54km E of Big Pine, CA 14:37 UTC
8. 1.9 55km E of Big Pine, CA 17:00 UTC
9. 3.4 20km NNE of Deep Springs, CA 18:16 UTC
10. 2.2 30 km S of Goldfield, Nevada 21:48 UTC
11. 1.6 28 km N of Dyer, Nevada 02:06 UTC
12. 1.5 25 km N of Dyer, Nevada 00:43 UTC
13. 1.6 50 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada 03:31 UTC
14. 1.9 27 km N of Dyer, Nevada 12:32 UTC
15. 2.2 12 km SE of Silver Peak, Nevada 14:48 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:48 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.