Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Smith Valley, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Smith Valley in the 24 hours to 6:25 pm PST (02:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Smith Valley, NV, at 1:03 am PDT on 16 July 2021 (08:03 UTC), less than 1 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 15 km SSE of Smith Valley, Nevada
- When
- 1:03 am PDT on 16 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Smith Valley, NV · earthquakes near Smith Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Douglas County, 40 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Smith Valley fault, 2 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 1946 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Smith Valley, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Smith Valley, NV. No account or email needed.
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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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Smith Valley, 16 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, Topaz Ranch Estates.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 2,800,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 40 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 23 km E of Bridgeport, California · 49 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 50 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 38.6489, -119.2870. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County, NV | 40 km (25 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 42 km (26 mi) | N | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Alpine County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | W | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Carson City, NV | 69 km (43 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Mineral County, NV | 77 km (48 mi) | E | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Mono County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Mono 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.
- 1.6 28km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.5 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.1 3 km N of Walker, California
- 2.1 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.7 32km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.9 28km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.5 30km ESE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.8 30km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.9 26 km WSW of Walker Lake, Nevada
- 1.8 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.6 26km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.5 30km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.6 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.8 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 31km ENE of Dardanelle, 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.