QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.5ml

57 km WSW of Rachel, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 57 km WSW of Rachel, Nevada, at 4:17 pm PST on 5 January 2021 (00:17 UTC), 7.3 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 7.3 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Nye County 55 kmEsmeralda County 117 km
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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Nye County, 55 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Belted Range fault, 18 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 2138 days ago

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 7 km (4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.1 on 2019-06-11 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 104 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 52 km NE of Beatty, Nevada · 21 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 46 km NNE of Beatty, Nevada · 26 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 51 km NNE of Beatty, Nevada · 21 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 53 km NE of Beatty, Nevada · 22 km S of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 57 km NE of Beatty, Nevada · 20 km S 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 37.4760, -116.3557. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Nye County, NV 55 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Nye County
Esmeralda County, NV 117 km (73 mi) WNW earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 138 km (86 mi) SW earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 36 km WNW of Rachel, Nevada
  2. 1.6 53 km ESE of Goldfield, Nevada
  3. 1.9 40 km NE of Beatty, Nevada
  4. 1.9 40 km NNE of Beatty, Nevada
  5. 1.5 59 km NE of Beatty, Nevada
  6. 2.7 47 km SSW of Rachel, Nevada
  7. 2.0 53 km ESE of Goldfield, Nevada
  8. 2.3 55 km ENE of Beatty, Nevada
  9. 1.5 28 km SW of Rachel, Nevada
  10. 1.9 28 km SW of Rachel, Nevada
  11. 1.7 60 km ENE of Beatty, Nevada
  12. 2.2 50 km ENE of Beatty, Nevada
  13. 2.3 39 km WNW of Rachel, Nevada
  14. 1.6 25 km WNW of Rachel, Nevada
  15. 2.0 22 km WNW of Rachel, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.