QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Tonopah, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Tonopah in the 24 hours to 11:29 am PST (19:29 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Tonopah, NV, at 9:17 pm PDT on 20 May 2020 (04:17 UTC), 8.4 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 39 km SE of Mina, Nevada

9:17 pm PDT, May 20, 2020 · · 8.4 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Tonopah Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 46 kmMineral County 69 kmMono County 103 kmNye County 115 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
9:17 pm PDT on 20 May 2020 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Tonopah, NV · earthquakes near Tonopah
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
8.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 46 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Monte Cristo Valley fault, 20 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 2367 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. In Tonopah, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 16,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 30 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 36 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 30 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 30 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 32 km NE of Mina, Nevada · 45 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 38.1828, -117.7455. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 46 km (29 mi) SSE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mineral County, NV 69 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 103 km (64 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mono County
Nye County, NV 115 km (72 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.

  1. 1.8 30 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  2. 1.7 32 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  3. 1.6 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  4. 1.6 29 km S of Mina, Nevada
  5. 1.5 31 km S of Mina, Nevada
  6. 2.1 37 km ESE of Mina, Nevada
  7. 1.6 39 km NNW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  8. 1.9 33 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  9. 1.5 29 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  10. 1.7 28 km S of Mina, Nevada
  11. 1.7 35 km ESE of Mina, Nevada
  12. 1.8 39 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  13. 1.6 27 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  14. 1.7 36 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  15. 2.6 29 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.