Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Sandy Valley, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Sandy Valley in the 24 hours to 4:54 am PST (12:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 35 km (22 mi) S, at 10:28 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 4 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sandy Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) south-southwest of Sandy Valley, NV, at 4:31 pm PST on 23 December 2020 (00:31 UTC), 5.2 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 24 km SSW of Sandy Valley, Nevada
80 km (50 mi) SSW of Las Vegas, NV
- When
- 4:31 pm PST on 23 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) south-southwest of Sandy Valley, NV · earthquakes near Sandy Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Clark County, 91 km NE
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2151 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sandy Valley, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Sandy Valley, 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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Sandy Valley, 24 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
- 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2018-07-05 — about 22,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 35.6030, -115.6947. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County, NV | 91 km (57 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Clark County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
29 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 40 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 1.6 39 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 2.2 27 km S of Tecopa, CA
- 1.8 27 km S of Tecopa, CA
- 3.3 27 km S of Tecopa, CA
- 1.6 31 km S of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 1.6 45 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 1.6 6 km SSW of Blue Diamond, Nevada
- 1.5 18 km E of Goodsprings, Nevada
- 1.6 36 km SSE of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 2.0 32 km SSE of Goodsprings, Nevada
- 2.8 14 km SSE of Tecopa, California
- 1.5 44 km S of Sandy Valley, Nevada
- 1.6 42 km S of Goodsprings, Nevada
- 1.6 35 km S of Sandy Valley, 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
- 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.