QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Golden Valley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Golden Valley in the 24 hours to 3:51 am PST (11:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 15 km (9 mi) SSW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Golden Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Golden Valley, NV, at 9:36 pm PST on 21 February 2020 (05:36 UTC), 9.5 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SSE of Golden Valley, Nevada

6 km (4 mi) NNE of Reno, NV

9:36 pm PST, Feb 21, 2020 · · 9.5 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Golden Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 31 kmCarson City 50 kmSierra County 60 kmDouglas County 79 kmLyon County 83 kmNevada County 89 kmPlumas County 96 kmPlacer County 98 kmAlpine County 109 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
9:36 pm PST on 21 February 2020 ()
Where
in Golden Valley, NV · earthquakes near Golden Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 31 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Spanish Springs Valley fault, 11 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 2454 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 6 km (4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sun Valley, Lemmon Valley, Reno, Sparks, Spanish Springs, Mogul.

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

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. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 11 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 23 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 35 km WNW 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 39.6001, -119.8170. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 31 km (19 mi) SE earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 50 km (31 mi) S earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 60 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Douglas County, NV 79 km (49 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 83 km (52 mi) SE earthquakes near Lyon County
Nevada County, CA 89 km (55 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 7km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV
  2. 2.2 15km NNW of Incline Village-Crystal Bay, NV
  3. 1.5 Northern California
  4. 1.6 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  5. 1.6 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.9 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  7. 1.5 7 km N of Incline Village, Nevada
  8. 2.2 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  9. 2.2 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  10. 2.4 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  11. 2.3 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  12. 1.8 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  13. 2.7 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  14. 1.6 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  15. 1.7 4 km E of Cold Springs, 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.