Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 7:56 am PST (15:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) west of Hawthorne, NV, at 9:29 pm PDT on 16 July 2021 (04:29 UTC), 15 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 26 km WSW of Walker Lake, Nevada
- When
- 9:29 pm PDT on 16 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 35 km (22 mi) west of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mineral County, 53 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Smith Valley fault, 13 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 1945 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hawthorne, NV
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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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 35 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 21 km S of Hawthorne, Nevada · 39 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 31 km ENE of Mono City, California · 47 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 23 km E of Bridgeport, California · 30 km S of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 41 km W 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 38.5458, -119.0297. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral County, NV | 53 km (33 mi) | E | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Lyon County, NV | 55 km (34 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 64 km (40 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Alpine County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | W | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Mono County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Carson City, NV | 92 km (57 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Carson City |
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 30km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 2.1 34km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.7 29km ESE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.8 25km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.6 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.5 30km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.6 32km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 2.3 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.7 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.6 32km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 2.8 28km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.5 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
- 1.6 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
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.