QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

27 km SSE of Mina, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 27 km SSE of Mina, Nevada, at 12:11 am PDT on 21 May 2020 (07:11 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

· 8.9 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 52 kmMineral County 55 kmMono County 83 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 52 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Benton Spring fault, 7 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 1648 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. 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 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 4,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 18 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 20 km SSW 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 38.1612, -117.9790. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 52 km (32 mi) SE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mineral County, NV 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 83 km (52 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mono County
Lyon County, NV 143 km (89 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon 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. 2.5 30 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  2. 1.7 33 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  3. 2.4 30 km S of Mina, Nevada
  4. 2.1 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  5. 1.9 31 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  6. 1.8 26 km S of Mina, Nevada
  7. 2.4 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  8. 1.9 28 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  9. 2.1 29 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  10. 1.9 27 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  11. 2.1 30 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  12. 1.8 36 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  13. 1.6 24 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  14. 1.8 31 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  15. 2.6 30 km SE 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.