QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Yerington, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Yerington in the 24 hours to 4:29 pm PST (00:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 22 km (14 mi) NNE, at 6:55 pm PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Yerington

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 33 km (21 mi) southeast of Yerington, NV, at 8:31 am PST on 30 January 2020 (16:31 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 17 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada

8:31 am PST, Jan 30, 2020 · · 11 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yerington Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 38 kmMineral County 50 kmDouglas County 66 kmAlpine County 84 kmCarson City 86 kmStorey County 91 kmChurchill County 97 kmMono County 98 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
8:31 am PST on 30 January 2020 ()
Where
33 km (21 mi) southeast of Yerington, NV · earthquakes near Yerington
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 38 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range fault, 7 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 2478 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Yerington, 33 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.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 500,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 37 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 13 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada · 38 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 27 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada · 38 km NE 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 38.8015, -118.8604. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 38 km (24 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Mineral County, NV 50 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Mineral County
Douglas County, NV 66 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Douglas County
Alpine County, CA 84 km (52 mi) WSW earthquakes near Alpine County
Carson City, NV 86 km (53 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 91 km (57 mi) NW earthquakes near Storey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 8 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  2. 1.6 8 km NNE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  3. 1.9 4 km SSW of Smith Valley, Nevada
  4. 1.6 3 km W of Walker Lake, Nevada
  5. 1.5 16 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  6. 2.2 15 km E of Hawthorne, Nevada
  7. 1.5 28 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  8. 1.7 22 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  9. 1.5 28 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  10. 1.5 29 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  11. 2.1 California-Nevada border region
  12. 1.8 28 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  13. 2.0 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  14. 1.8 24 km S of Fallon Station, Nevada
  15. 2.0 28 km WSW of Hawthorne, 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.