Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Smith Valley, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Smith Valley in the 24 hours to 2:02 am PST (10:02 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Smith Valley, NV, at 10:01 pm PDT on 23 May 2019 (05:01 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: California-Nevada border region
- When
- 10:01 pm PDT on 23 May 2019 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Smith Valley, NV · earthquakes near Smith Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Douglas County, 31 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Antelope Valley fault, 10 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 2730 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Smith Valley, NV
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Smith Valley, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Topaz Ranch Estates, Smith.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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 38.6872, -119.3860. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County, NV | 31 km (19 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Alpine County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Lyon County, NV | 41 km (25 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Carson City, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Storey County, NV | 84 km (52 mi) | N | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Mineral County, NV | 86 km (54 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 12km NNW of Bridgeport, CA
- 1.5 5 km NNW of Fish Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 3 km ENE of Markleeville, California
- 2.4 12km NW of Bridgeport, CA
- 1.8 6 km NW of Topaz Ranch Estates, Nevada
- 1.6 12 km NNW of Bridgeport, California
- 2.2 3 km NE of Mesa Vista, California
- 1.6 16 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada
- 1.8 17 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada
- 1.9 17 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada
- 1.6 6 km SE of Walker, California
- 1.6 4 km SE of Walker, California
- 1.9 6 km SE of Walker, California
- 1.8 6 km ESE of Walker, California
- 1.5 9 km ESE of Markleeville, California
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
- 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.