Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Smith, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Smith in the 24 hours to 11:32 am PST (19:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 9 km (6 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV, at 4:48 am PDT on 11 July 2021 (11:48 UTC), 3.5 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 12 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
- When
- 4:48 am PDT on 11 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV · earthquakes near Smith
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lyon County, 31 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Smith Valley fault, 11 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 1950 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Smith, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Smith, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Smith, 13 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Smith Valley, Topaz Ranch Estates, Yerington.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 5,600,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 29 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 41 km N 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 38.7396, -119.2011. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyon County, NV | 31 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 40 km (25 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Alpine County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Carson City, NV | 66 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Mineral County, NV | 73 km (45 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Storey County, NV | 83 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Storey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 32km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 2.3 33km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 2.0 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.9 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 2.3 31km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.8 29km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.9 28km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.9 31km ESE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.5 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.7 30km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.7 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.5 32km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 30km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 2.2 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.4 28km SE of Markleeville, CA
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.