Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6ml
39 km SE of Mina, NV
Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 39 km SE of Mina, NV, at 8:43 pm PST on 15 November 2020 (04:43 UTC), 11 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 47 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Monte Cristo Valley fault, 19 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 2115 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tonopah, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Tonopah, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 68 km (42 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.
Likely felt in: Tonopah 47 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× more
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 22,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 30 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 30 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 30 km SW 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 38.1894, -117.7482. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 47 km (29 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mineral County, NV | 69 km (43 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Mono County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Nye County, NV | 116 km (72 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Nye 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.
- 2.1 34.2 km NW of Mina, NV
- 2.7 34 km SE of Mina, NV
- 1.6 13.4 km SE of Silver Peak, NV
- 1.7 33 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.0 32.3 km NW of Mina, NV
- 1.6 38.5 km NW of Mina, NV
- 1.5 34.4 km NW of Mina, NV
- 2.0 33.7 km NW of Mina, NV
- 1.5 32.1 km NW of Mina, NV
- 2.3 28.3 km NNW of Mina, NV
- 1.5 28.5 km NNW of Mina, NV
- 1.9 33.8 km NW of Mina, NV
- 2.1 33.9 km NW of Mina, NV
- 1.5 33 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
- 1.6 40.8 km WNW of Mina, NV
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
- 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.