QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada, at 6:47 pm PDT on 28 March 2020 (01:47 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

· 6.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 29 kmMono County 107 kmInyo County 113 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 29 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley fault, 17 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 2419 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 9 km (6 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 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 4.0 on 2020-03-13 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.

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
  2. 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 16 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 47km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 21 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 48 km NW 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 37.5395, -117.7493. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 29 km (18 mi) NNE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 107 km (67 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Inyo County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Nye County, NV 123 km (76 mi) ENE earthquakes near Nye County
Mineral County, NV 123 km (77 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mineral County

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. 2.2 25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  2. 1.8 25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  3. 1.6 27 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  4. 1.7 29 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  5. 2.1 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  6. 2.9 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  7. 3.0 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  8. 1.8 28 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  9. 1.6 9 km NW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  10. 1.6 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  11. 1.5 27 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  12. 1.6 29 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  13. 2.9 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 2.4 26 km SW of Goldfield, Nevada
  15. 1.7 27 km SW of Goldfield, 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.