Earthquake near Paradise, NV

USGS: 5 km SE of Paradise, Nevada

9 km (5 mi) NW of Henderson, NV

3:51 pm PDT, Oct 27, 2020 · 2020-10-27 22:51 UTC · 12 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

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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: 3:51 pm PDT on 27 October 2020 (2020-10-27 22:51 UTC)
Where: 6 km (4 mi) SE of Paradise, NV · earthquakes near Paradise
Magnitude: M 2.0 (ml)
Depth: 12 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Clark County, 19 km NNE
Status: Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS 2166 days ago · we first saw it 2166 days ago

A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) SE of Paradise, NV, at 3:51 pm PDT on 27 October 2020 (22:51 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Whitney, Winchester, Henderson, Enterprise, Las Vegas, Spring Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

5.0 1 km SE of Boulder City, Nevada · 28 km ESE of this epicentre May 4, 1939

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Clark County, NV	19 km (12 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Clark County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.2 18 km WSW of Blue Diamond, Nevada 21:00 UTC
2.1 8 km SE of Enterprise, Nevada 21:08 UTC
1.6 24 km NW of North Las Vegas, Nevada 23:17 UTC
1.6 3 km WSW of Boulder City, Nevada 21:23 UTC
2.1 9 km SSE of Enterprise, Nevada 19:34 UTC
1.8 4 km SSW of Spring Valley, Nevada 19:36 UTC
2.0 9 km SSE of Enterprise, Nevada 19:33 UTC
1.7 25 km NE of Boulder City, Nevada 02:46 UTC
2.6 14 km ENE of Boulder City, Nevada 02:54 UTC
1.5 17 km NE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 18:14 UTC
2.3 2 km ESE of Blue Diamond, Nevada 22:25 UTC
1.7 18 km N of Summerlin South, Nevada 16:45 UTC
1.6 1 km WSW of Winchester, Nevada 22:48 UTC
1.6 Nevada 13:35 UTC
1.6 Nevada 21:17 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:10 UTC. 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.