QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.6ml

20 km ESE of Dyer, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km ESE of Dyer, Nevada, at 2:35 am PDT on 19 October 2020 (09:35 UTC), 19 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 19 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 29 kmMono County 97 kmMineral County 114 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 29 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
McAfee Canyon fault, 10 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 2216 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 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 4.0 on 2020-03-13 — about 4,000 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 · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 48 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 10 km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California · 47 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 24 km WSW of Dyer, Nevada · 43 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 47 km NNW 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 37.5887, -117.8585. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 29 km (18 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 97 km (60 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 114 km (71 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mineral County
Inyo County, CA 121 km (75 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 29 km N of Dyer, Nevada
  2. 1.5 24 km ENE of Benton, California
  3. 2.4 21km NNW of Deep Springs, CA
  4. 1.9 33 km N of Dyer, Nevada
  5. 2.0 32 km N of Dyer, Nevada
  6. 2.4 15km ENE of Big Pine, CA
  7. 3.4 14km NE of Big Pine, CA
  8. 1.6 12km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  9. 2.1 6km ENE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  10. 1.8 26 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  11. 1.6 26 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  12. 1.5 27 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  13. 1.5 27 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  14. 1.6 26 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  15. 1.5 23 km SSW of Silver Peak, 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.