Earthquake near Nellis Air Force Base, NV

USGS: 7 km N of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada

in North Las Vegas, NV

5:35 am PST, Nov 12, 2020 · 2020-11-12 13:35 UTC · 0.2 km deep · released about 7.6 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: 5:35 am PST on 12 November 2020 (2020-11-12 13:35 UTC)
Where: 7 km (5 mi) N of Nellis Air Force Base, NV · earthquakes near Nellis Air Force Base
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: 0.2 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Clark County, 12 km SSE
Status: Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS 2151 days ago · we first saw it 2151 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) N of Nellis Air Force Base, NV, at 5:35 am PST on 12 November 2020 (13:35 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sunrise Manor, North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Winchester, Whitney, Paradise.

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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
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

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 · 45 km SSE 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	12 km (7 mi)	SSE	earthquakes near Clark County
Mohave County, AZ	136 km (84 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Mohave County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.0 9 km SSE of Enterprise, Nevada 19:33 UTC
1.7 25 km NE of Boulder City, Nevada 02:46 UTC
1.5 18 km ESE of Indian Springs, Nevada 11:18 UTC
1.6 33 km NW of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 09:59 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
1.6 34 km NNW of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 18:51 UTC
2.3 2 km ESE of Blue Diamond, Nevada 22:25 UTC
1.9 12 km SE of Indian Springs, Nevada 08:57 UTC
1.5 33 km E of Indian Springs, Nevada 21:41 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
1.8 24 km ENE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 21:00 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:52 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.