QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Yerington, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Yerington in the 24 hours to 6:50 am PST (14:50 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) west-northwest of Yerington, NV, at 2:53 pm PDT on 5 May 2020 (21:53 UTC), 9.1 km deep.

USGS: 17 km WNW of Yerington, Nevada

71 km (44 mi) SE of Reno, NV · 36 km (23 mi) ESE of Carson, NV

2:53 pm PDT, May 5, 2020 · · 9.1 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yerington Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 14 kmDouglas County 26 kmCarson City 36 kmStorey County 47 kmAlpine County 60 kmMineral County 100 kmEl Dorado County 106 kmChurchill County 109 kmSierra County 117 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
2:53 pm PDT on 5 May 2020 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) west-northwest of Yerington, NV · earthquakes near Yerington
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 14 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Smith Valley fault, 9 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 2383 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Yerington, 17 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Smith, Smith Valley.

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 4.5 on 2020-03-21 — about 22,000 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 · 16 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 35 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 14 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 36 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 22 km ENE 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 39.0358, -119.3534. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 14 km (8 mi) E earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 26 km (16 mi) WSW earthquakes near Douglas County
Carson City, NV 36 km (23 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 47 km (29 mi) NNW earthquakes near Storey County
Alpine County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SW earthquakes near Alpine County
Mineral County, NV 100 km (62 mi) SE earthquakes near Mineral County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2km NNE of Mesa Vista, CA
  2. 1.5 12 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
  3. 1.5 8 km ENE of Coleville, California
  4. 1.8 7 km SW of Dayton, Nevada
  5. 1.8 11 km SSW of Schurz, Nevada
  6. 1.7 10 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.8 8 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  8. 1.9 12 km SE of Topaz Ranch Estates, Nevada
  9. 1.8 8 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  10. 1.8 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  11. 1.8 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  12. 2.0 8 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  13. 1.5 12 km W of Virginia City, Nevada
  14. 2.4 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  15. 1.9 4 km SSE of Dayton, 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.