QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Yerington, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Yerington in the 24 hours to 7:23 pm PST (03:23 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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east of Yerington, NV, at 11:02 pm PDT on 19 March 2020 (06:02 UTC), 5.6 km deep.

USGS: 10 km NW of Schurz, Nevada

11:02 pm PDT, Mar 19, 2020 · · 5.6 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yerington Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 27 kmDouglas County 64 kmMineral County 70 kmStorey County 71 kmCarson City 75 kmChurchill County 78 kmAlpine County 91 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
11:02 pm PDT on 19 March 2020 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) east of Yerington, NV · earthquakes near Yerington
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 27 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range fault, under 1 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 2428 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Yerington, 24 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 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 4.5 on 2016-07-07 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 21 km SSE of Fallon Station, Nevada · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 27 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 4 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 22 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 39.0261, -118.8882. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 27 km (17 mi) W earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 64 km (40 mi) WSW earthquakes near Douglas County
Mineral County, NV 70 km (43 mi) SE earthquakes near Mineral County
Storey County, NV 71 km (44 mi) NW earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 75 km (47 mi) W earthquakes near Carson City
Churchill County, NV 78 km (49 mi) NE earthquakes near Churchill County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 39 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  2. 2.0 33 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  3. 1.6 17 km SE of Smith, Nevada
  4. 1.8 38 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  5. 2.1 6 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  6. 1.7 40 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  7. 1.5 12 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
  8. 1.8 11 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada
  9. 1.5 20 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada
  10. 1.7 17 km SE of Schurz, Nevada
  11. 1.7 10 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada
  12. 1.5 12 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  13. 1.6 30 km SE of Fallon Station, Nevada
  14. 1.5 22 km E of Schurz, Nevada
  15. 1.5 7 km N of Walker Lake, 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.