QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Spring Creek, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Spring Creek in the 24 hours to 10:50 pm PST (06:50 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 106 km (66 mi) WNW, at 11:59 am PDT on 30 August 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 55 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Spring Creek

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Spring Creek, NV, at 1:35 pm PDT on 1 September 2021 (20:35 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 31 km SSW of Wells, Nevada

1:35 pm PDT, Sep 1, 2021 · · 14 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Spring Creek Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Elko County 41 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
1:35 pm PDT on 1 September 2021 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Spring Creek, NV · earthquakes near Spring Creek
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Elko County, 41 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Ruby Mountains fault, 18 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 1832 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 34 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Spring Creek, 45 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.

Likely felt in: Wells 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 4.7 on 2021-08-31 — about 350 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 8 km ENE of Wells, Nevada · 38 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 10 km ENE of Wells, Nevada · 39 km NNE 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 40.8388, -115.0776. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Elko County, NV 41 km (25 mi) NW earthquakes near Elko County
Eureka County, NV 139 km (87 mi) SW earthquakes near Eureka County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 47 km E of Lamoille, Nevada
  2. 3.0 10 km ENE of Wells, Nevada
  3. 2.0 23 km S of Wells, Nevada
  4. 1.9 46 km SE of Lamoille, Nevada
  5. 3.0 14 km SE of Wells, Nevada
  6. 3.1 29 km SE of Lamoille, Nevada
  7. 3.7 16 km S of Wells, Nevada
  8. 3.6 31 km NE of Osino, Nevada
  9. 2.0 20 km S of Wells, Nevada
  10. 1.5 21 km SSW of Wells, Nevada
  11. 2.7 29 km ESE of Lamoille, Nevada
  12. 1.9 7 km WSW of Oasis, Nevada
  13. 1.5 21 km SSW of Wells, 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

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