25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 97 km (60 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 15 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 11,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 4.0 about 15 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 32× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.

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

1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 42 km S of this epicentre May 17, 1993
2. 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 48 km NNE of this epicentre Feb 11, 1949
3. 5.4 16 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 46 km NW of this epicentre Nov 2, 1997
4. 5.3 47km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA · 47 km WNW of this epicentre Feb 2, 1961
5. 5.0 21 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 48 km NW of this epicentre Sep 24, 1982

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 37.5417, -117.7428. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.8 28 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:48 UTC
2. 2.6 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:39 UTC
3. 2.6 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:34 UTC
4. 2.2 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:32 UTC
5. 1.7 24 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:30 UTC
6. 3.7 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:27 UTC
7. 3.0 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 21:23 UTC
8. 1.9 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 00:41 UTC
9. 3.0 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 03:39 UTC
10. 3.2 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 01:05 UTC
11. 3.3 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 12:58 UTC
12. 2.5 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 19:09 UTC
13. 2.0 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 19:08 UTC
14. 2.2 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 18:53 UTC
15. 3.4 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada 18:43 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 23:29 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.