Earthquake near Whitney, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Whitney in the 24 hours to 1:45 pm PST (21:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 13 km (8 mi) SSW, at 10:15 am PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Whitney

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north of Whitney, NV, at 9:43 pm PDT on 4 October 2021 (04:43 UTC), 5.0 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 5 km N of Whitney, Nevada

23 km (14 mi) ESE of Las Vegas, NV · 15 km (9 mi) N of Henderson, NV

9:43 pm PDT, Oct 4, 2021 · 2021-10-05 04:43 UTC · 5.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Whitney Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 9:43 pm PDT on 4 October 2021 (2021-10-05 04:43 UTC)
Where: 5 km (3 mi) north of Whitney, NV · earthquakes near Whitney
Magnitude: M 1.5 (ml)
Depth: 5.0 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Clark County, 8 km NNE
Status: Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS 1865 days ago · we first saw it 1865 days ago

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. In Whitney, 5 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: Winchester, Sunrise Manor, North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Paradise, Nellis Air Force Base.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

5.0 1 km SE of Boulder City, Nevada · 28 km SE of this epicentre May 4, 1939

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Clark County, NV	8 km (5 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Clark County
Mohave County, AZ	125 km (78 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Mohave County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.3 3 km SSW of Enterprise, Nevada 21:33 UTC
1.9 8 km SE of Enterprise, Nevada 22:21 UTC
1.7 24 km E of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 14:00 UTC
3.3 24 km ENE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 13:52 UTC
1.5 24 km E of Boulder City, Nevada 12:06 UTC
1.9 9 km SSE of Enterprise, Nevada 21:20 UTC
2.4 3 km ENE of Blue Diamond, Nevada 21:26 UTC
2.2 20 km NE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 21:23 UTC
1.6 22 km ENE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 20:17 UTC
2.1 11 km NE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 04:55 UTC
2.1 9 km SSE of Enterprise, Nevada 22:16 UTC
1.5 8 km E of Mount Charleston, Nevada 19:54 UTC
1.8 2 km NNE of Goodsprings, Nevada 18:47 UTC
1.5 15 km N of Summerlin South, Nevada 17:13 UTC
2.1 8 km SE of Enterprise, Nevada 21:08 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 21:45 UTC. 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.