Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Tonopah, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Tonopah in the 24 hours to 11:53 am PST (19:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 55 km (34 mi) W, at 1:52 am PDT on 25 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tonopah
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) west-northwest of Tonopah, NV, at 9:50 am PST on 27 December 2021 (17:50 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 36 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- When
- 9:50 am PST on 27 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) west-northwest of Tonopah, NV · earthquakes near Tonopah
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 46 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Benton Spring fault, 17 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 1780 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tonopah, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Tonopah, 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Tonopah, 50 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 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.5 on 2020-05-15 — about 32,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 27 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 33 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 27 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 27 km SW 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 38.1780, -117.7830. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 46 km (29 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mineral County, NV | 67 km (42 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Mono County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Nye County, NV | 118 km (73 mi) | E | earthquakes near Nye County |
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.
- 3.2 30 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.5 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.6 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 26 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 35 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.9 35 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.8 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 34 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.0 Nevada
- 1.6 35 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.8 35 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.1 35 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.9 30 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.6 35 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.1 35 km SE of Mina, 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.