QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

68 km NNW of Austin, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 68 km NNW of Austin, Nevada, at 8:36 am PST on 28 February 2021 (16:36 UTC), 9.7 km deep.

· 9.7 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lander County 35 kmChurchill County 92 kmPershing County 95 kmEureka County 97 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
9.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lander County, 35 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Shoshone Range fault, 23 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 2064 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 9 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 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 2019-04-28 — about 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.8 The 1915 Pleasant Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 29 km NNW 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 40.0473, -117.4112. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lander County, NV 35 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lander County
Churchill County, NV 92 km (57 mi) SW earthquakes near Churchill County
Pershing County, NV 95 km (59 mi) WNW earthquakes near Pershing County
Eureka County, NV 97 km (60 mi) E earthquakes near Eureka County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 60 km NW of Austin, Nevada
  2. 1.5 44 km WNW of Austin, Nevada
  3. 1.9 57 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  4. 1.9 56 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  5. 1.6 72 km NW of Austin, Nevada
  6. 1.6 58 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  7. 1.9 63 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  8. 1.7 51 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  9. 3.1 64 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  10. 2.4 48 km NW of Austin, Nevada
  11. 1.5 53 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  12. 3.2 57 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  13. 2.0 63 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  14. 1.9 58 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  15. 2.6 60 km ESE of Lovelock, 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.