43 km W of Empire, Nevada

2021-01-03 06:02 UTC · 15 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

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: 2021-01-03 06:02 UTC
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: 15 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Washoe County, 26 km NE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2091 days ago · we first saw it 2091 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

Where

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 40.5495, -119.8500. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Washoe County, NV	26 km (16 mi)	SW of here	earthquakes near Washoe County
Lassen County, CA	68 km (42 mi)	ESE of here	earthquakes near Lassen County
Plumas County, CA	103 km (64 mi)	NE of here	earthquakes near Plumas County
Sierra County, CA	122 km (76 mi)	NNE of here	earthquakes near Sierra County
Modoc County, CA	137 km (85 mi)	SSE of here	earthquakes near Modoc County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.3 26 km NW of Gerlach, Nevada 16:49 UTC
1.7 25 km WSW of Empire, Nevada 23:16 UTC
1.8 31 km SSW of Empire, Nevada 01:30 UTC
1.9 Nevada 21:23 UTC
1.5 29 km SSW of Empire, Nevada 20:39 UTC
1.9 29 km SSW of Empire, Nevada 20:37 UTC
1.9 28 km ENE of Herlong, California 03:53 UTC
1.6 2 km NNE of Empire, Nevada 16:20 UTC
1.6 28 km ENE of Herlong, California 13:28 UTC
1.8 8 km WNW of Gerlach, Nevada 12:12 UTC
2.2 5 km NW of Empire, Nevada 11:48 UTC
2.5 1 km NNW of Empire, Nevada 11:57 UTC
1.8 21 km ENE of Herlong, California 02:21 UTC
1.5 30 km NE of Herlong, California 19:05 UTC
1.7 28 km E of Herlong, California 15:44 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 11:10 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.