Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
Yes. A magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 25 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada, at 8:17 pm PST on 26 December 2020 (04:17 UTC), 11 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 29 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Fish Lake Valley fault, 18 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 2077 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bishop, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bishop, CA. 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 56 km (35 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× 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 4.0 on 2020-03-13 — about 7.9 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 41 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 16 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.3 47km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 21 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 49 km NW 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 37.5355, -117.7351. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 29 km (18 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mono County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Inyo County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Nye County, NV | 122 km (76 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nye County |
| Mineral County, NV | 124 km (77 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 18 km ESE of Dyer, Nevada
- 2.3 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 2.0 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.3 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.7 39 km ENE of Big Pine, California
- 1.5 34 km SE of Dyer, Nevada
- 2.8 53 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 24 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.8 19km NNW of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.6 20 km S of Dyer, Nevada
- 1.6 30 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.6 18 km SW of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.9 23 km S of Dyer, Nevada
- 1.8 50 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.7 53 km S 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
- 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.