Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Battle Mountain, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Battle Mountain in the 24 hours to 8:59 am PST (16:59 UTC). The last one was M 5.7, 229 km (142 mi) SW, at 6:29 pm PDT on 13 April 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6,515 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Battle Mountain
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Battle Mountain, NV, at 12:00 pm PST on 16 February 2021 (20:00 UTC), 1.5 km deep.
USGS: 24 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada
- When
- 12:00 pm PST on 16 February 2021 ()
- Where
- 25 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Battle Mountain, NV · earthquakes near Battle Mountain
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lander County, 75 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Buffalo Valley fault, 16 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 2095 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Battle Mountain, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Battle Mountain, NV. 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 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Battle Mountain, 25 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 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.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.8 The 1915 Pleasant Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 46 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Pleasant Valley, Nevada (Foreshock) · 26 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 31 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada · 8 km SSW 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 40.5612, -117.2049. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lander County, NV | 75 km (46 mi) | S | earthquakes near Lander County |
| Eureka County, NV | 102 km (64 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Eureka County |
| Pershing County, NV | 103 km (64 mi) | W | earthquakes near Pershing County |
| Humboldt County, NV | 122 km (76 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Churchill County, NV | 145 km (90 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Churchill County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 37 km ESE of Imlay, Nevada
- 2.4 Nevada
- 3.1 5 km NE of Valmy, Nevada
- 1.6 32 km SSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada
- 1.5 62 km SE of Imlay, Nevada
- 2.5 45 km SE of Imlay, Nevada
- 3.2 11 km NW of Valmy, 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.