QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 11:23 am PST (19:23 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) south of Hawthorne, NV, at 3:32 am PDT on 22 July 2021 (10:32 UTC), 16 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 28 km S of Hawthorne, Nevada

3:32 am PDT, Jul 22, 2021 · · 16 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 33 kmMono County 45 kmLyon County 97 kmEsmeralda County 103 kmAlpine County 109 kmDouglas County 111 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
3:32 am PDT on 22 July 2021 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) south of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 33 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range fault, under 1 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 1933 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Hawthorne, 28 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 1,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 23 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 20 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Aftershock) · 20 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Aftershock) · 20 km E 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 38.2719, -118.6254. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 33 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mono County
Lyon County, NV 97 km (60 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lyon County
Esmeralda County, NV 103 km (64 mi) ESE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Alpine County, CA 109 km (68 mi) WNW earthquakes near Alpine County
Douglas County, NV 111 km (69 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 24 km S of Mina, Nevada
  2. 1.8 32 km ENE of Mono City, California
  3. 1.5 26 km S of Hawthorne, Nevada
  4. 1.8 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  5. 1.6 15 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  6. 1.6 15 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  7. 1.6 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  8. 2.2 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  9. 2.4 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  10. 1.7 29km SE of Bodie, CA
  11. 1.7 23 km ESE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  12. 2.4 31 km NNW of Benton, California
  13. 3.5 28 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  14. 2.2 30km SE of Bodie, CA
  15. 1.5 39km NNE of Toms Place, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.