Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
49 km WSW of Austin, Nevada
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 49 km WSW of Austin, Nevada, at 2:58 pm PDT on 30 July 2021 (21:58 UTC), 7.2 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Churchill County, 57 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Desatoya Mountains fault, 10 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 1932 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fallon, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fallon, 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. 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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 4.1 on 2019-04-28 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.1 The 1954 Fairview Peak, Nevada Earthquake · 38 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.9 The 1954 Dixie Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 48 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 47 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada · 46 km W of this epicentre
- 5.3 48 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada · 44 km WSW 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 39.3924, -117.6315. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill County, NV | 57 km (35 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Lander County, NV | 75 km (47 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Lander County |
| Mineral County, NV | 119 km (74 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Eureka County, NV | 133 km (83 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Eureka County |
| Pershing County, NV | 134 km (83 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Pershing County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 42 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 3.6 42 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.6 30 km ENE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.4 31 km ENE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.1 58 km N of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.0 30 km ENE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.9 30 km ENE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 2.1 48 km W of Austin, Nevada
- 1.8 33 km ENE of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.8 51 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.7 61 km W of Austin, Nevada
- 2.4 48 km NW of Austin, Nevada
- 2.3 39 km WSW of Austin, Nevada
- 2.2 46 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada
- 1.5 56 km ENE of Fallon Station, 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.