Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
2 km WSW of Gabbs, Nevada
Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 2 km WSW of Gabbs, Nevada, at 4:56 pm PDT on 19 May 2021 (23:56 UTC), 11 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Mineral County, 55 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Gabbs Valley fault, 5 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 1937 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hawthorne, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hawthorne, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 25 km (16 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 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 30 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.1 The 1954 Fairview Peak, Nevada Earthquake · 38 km N of this epicentre
- 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 28 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 48 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km SW of Gabbs, Nevada · 8 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 18 km S of Gabbs, Nevada · 18 km SSE 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 38.8577, -117.9516. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral County, NV | 55 km (34 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Churchill County, NV | 80 km (50 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Lyon County, NV | 109 km (68 mi) | W | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Mono County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Lander County, NV | 140 km (87 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lander County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 4 km NE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.9 27 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.0 28 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.5 28 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.6 27 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.6 8 km NNE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.3 21 km ENE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.2 14 km NW of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 18 km NE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.6 36 km W of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.9 37 km W of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.7 29 km NW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.5 18 km NE of Mina, Nevada
- 3.0 18 km NE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 34 km NNW of Gabbs, 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.