QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Pahrump, NV

USGS: 35 km W of Indian Springs, Nevada

83 km (52 mi) WNW of Las Vegas, NV

4:43 pm PDT, Mar 16, 2020 · · 5.6 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 104 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
4:43 pm PDT on 16 March 2020 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) N of Pahrump, NV · earthquakes near Pahrump
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clark County, 104 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Rock 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 2391 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) N of Pahrump, NV, at 4:43 pm PDT on 16 March 2020 (23:43 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2017-07-17 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.9 64 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 63 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada · 49 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 64 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada · 50 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 47 km ESE of Beatty, Nevada · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 64 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada · 50 km N 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 36.6232, -116.0598. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, NV 104 km (65 mi) ESE earthquakes near Clark County
Lincoln County, NV 155 km (96 mi) NE earthquakes near Lincoln County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 30 km NNW of Pahrump, Nevada
  2. 1.7 25 km NNE of Pahrump, Nevada
  3. 1.5 18 km NNE of Indian Springs, Nevada
  4. 1.5 26 km NNE of Pahrump, Nevada
  5. 1.6 39 km WNW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.5 38 km NW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.8 29 km NE of Furnace Creek, California
  8. 1.9 California-Nevada border region
  9. 1.6 51 km ENE of Furnace Creek, California
  10. 1.7 9 km WNW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  11. 1.5 Nevada
  12. 1.6 43 km ESE of Beatty, Nevada
  13. 1.5 29 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada
  14. 2.6 29 km WNW of Pahrump, Nevada
  15. 1.5 6 km NE of Indian 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.