QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6ml

Earthquake near Pioche, NV

USGS: 7 km E of Panaca, Nevada

9:39 am PST, Feb 2, 2020 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 3.8 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Pioche Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lincoln County 52 kmIron County 89 kmWashington County 94 kmBeaver County 112 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
9:39 am PST on 2 February 2020 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) SE of Pioche, NV · earthquakes near Pioche
Magnitude
M 3.6 (ml)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
9 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Lincoln County, 52 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2358 days ago

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) SE of Pioche, NV, at 9:39 am PST on 2 February 2020 (17:39 UTC). 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Caliente.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× more

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 4.2 on 2016-01-15 — about 9.1 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 38 km ESE of Caliente, Nevada · 44 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 36 km SE of Caliente, Nevada · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 36 km SE of Caliente, Nevada · 46 km SSE 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 37.8016, -114.3058. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lincoln County, NV 52 km (33 mi) WSW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Iron County, UT 89 km (55 mi) E earthquakes near Iron County
Washington County, UT 94 km (58 mi) SE earthquakes near Washington County
Beaver County, UT 112 km (70 mi) NE earthquakes near Beaver County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 28 km SE of Caliente, Nevada
  2. 2.1 23 km SSE of Caliente, Nevada
  3. 1.8 27 km SE of Caliente, Nevada
  4. 1.8 19 km SSE of Caliente, Nevada
  5. 2.0 28 km SE of Caliente, Nevada
  6. 1.5 27 km SE of Caliente, Nevada
  7. 3.0 14 km WNW of Pioche, Nevada
  8. 1.7 17 km SW of Pioche, Nevada
  9. 1.7 19 km WSW of Enterprise, Utah
  10. 2.1 15 km NW of Beryl Junction, Utah
  11. 1.8 30 km W of Enterprise, Utah
  12. 2.4 18 km WNW of Beryl Junction, Utah
  13. 2.3 29 km ESE of Caliente, Nevada
  14. 1.9 33 km W of Enterprise, Utah
  15. 1.7 38 km W of Veyo, Utah

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.