QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 4:06 pm PST (00:06 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) east-northeast of Hawthorne, NV, at 2:56 pm PST on 11 January 2021 (22:56 UTC), 8.8 km deep.

USGS: 16 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada

2:56 pm PST, Jan 11, 2021 · · 8.8 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hawthorne Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 11 kmLyon County 78 kmMono County 85 kmDouglas County 105 kmChurchill County 105 kmAlpine County 116 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
2:56 pm PST on 11 January 2021 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) east-northeast of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
8.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 11 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Indian Head fault, 10 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 2132 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 17 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 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 45 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 38 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 35 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km SW of Gabbs, Nevada · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Aftershock) · 35 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 38.6074, -118.4653. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mineral County
Lyon County, NV 78 km (49 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Mono County, CA 85 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mono County
Douglas County, NV 105 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near Douglas County
Churchill County, NV 105 km (65 mi) N earthquakes near Churchill County
Alpine County, CA 116 km (72 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 11 km WNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  2. 2.2 28 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  3. 1.8 28 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  4. 1.8 29 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  5. 1.5 28 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  6. 2.2 29 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  7. 1.5 16 km N of Walker Lake, Nevada
  8. 2.1 23 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
  9. 2.0 23 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
  10. 2.6 California-Nevada border region
  11. 1.9 8 km WSW of Mina, Nevada
  12. 1.5 8 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  13. 1.5 26 km NNW of Mina, Nevada
  14. 1.5 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  15. 1.6 8 km NNE of Hawthorne, 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.