Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.2ml
Earthquake near Tonopah, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Tonopah in the 24 hours to 1:36 pm PST (21:36 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 55 km (34 mi) W, at 1:52 am PDT on 25 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tonopah
This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) west-northwest of Tonopah, NV, at 7:22 pm PDT on 17 May 2020 (02:22 UTC), 17 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 39 km ESE of Mina, Nevada
- When
- 7:22 pm PDT on 17 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 45 km (28 mi) west-northwest of Tonopah, NV · earthquakes near Tonopah
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 50 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Monte Cristo Valley fault, 17 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2370 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tonopah, NV
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Tonopah, 45 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 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 6.5 on 2020-05-15 — about 2,800,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 41 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 36 km SW 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 38.2248, -117.7102. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 50 km (31 mi) | S | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mineral County, NV | 70 km (43 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Mono County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Nye County, NV | 113 km (70 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Nye County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 36 km ESE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.8 33 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 38 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.0 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 33 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.8 33 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 3.1 39 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.7 23 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.0 27 km S of Mina, Nevada
- 2.8 33 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 32 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.5 27 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.1 32 km SSE of Mina, 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
- 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.