Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.5ml
27 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada
Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 27 km SSW of Silver Peak, Nevada, at 1:56 am PST on 3 January 2021 (09:56 UTC), 2.4 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 30 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Fish Lake Valley fault, 15 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2140 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bishop, CA
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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. 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.0 on 2020-03-13 — about 5,600 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 · 50 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 16 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 43 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.3 47km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 21 km NNW of Dyer, Nevada · 46 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 37.5373, -117.7820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 30 km (19 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mono County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Inyo County, CA | 113 km (71 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Mineral County, NV | 122 km (76 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Nye County, NV | 126 km (78 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nye County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 45 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.2 19 km ESE of Dyer, Nevada
- 1.5 18 km ESE of Dyer, Nevada
- 2.2 18 km ESE of Dyer, Nevada
- 2.3 51 km S of Silver Peak, 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
- 2.1 29km E of Big Pine, CA
- 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
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.