QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

21 km S of Gabbs, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 21 km S of Gabbs, Nevada, at 5:08 am PDT on 24 August 2020 (12:08 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

· 0.6 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 46 kmChurchill County 100 kmEsmeralda County 103 kmLyon County 117 kmMono County 119 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 1.9 (ml)
Depth
0.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 46 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Gabbs Valley fault, 13 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 2271 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 4.3 on 2016-03-21 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 9 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 10 km SW of Gabbs, Nevada · 15 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 18 km S of Gabbs, Nevada · 3 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 28 km E of Gabbs, Nevada · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 32 km NE of Mina, Nevada · 14 km SE 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 38.6778, -117.9244. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 46 km (29 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mineral County
Churchill County, NV 100 km (62 mi) NNW earthquakes near Churchill County
Esmeralda County, NV 103 km (64 mi) SSE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Lyon County, NV 117 km (73 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lyon County
Mono County, CA 119 km (74 mi) SW earthquakes near Mono County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 16 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  2. 2.1 23 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
  3. 2.0 23 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
  4. 2.6 California-Nevada border region
  5. 1.9 8 km WSW of Mina, Nevada
  6. 2.4 32 km SE of Gabbs, Nevada
  7. 2.5 31 km SE of Gabbs, Nevada
  8. 1.5 26 km NNW of Mina, Nevada
  9. 1.5 30 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
  10. 1.5 16 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  11. 2.2 15 km E of Hawthorne, Nevada
  12. 1.6 17 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  13. 1.8 17 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  14. 1.8 16 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  15. 1.6 20 km ENE 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.