QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 6:03 am PST (14:03 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 3.5 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) southeast of Hawthorne, NV, at 9:06 pm PST on 20 February 2022 (05:06 UTC), 7.9 km deep.

USGS: California-Nevada border region

9:06 pm PST, Feb 20, 2022 · · 7.9 km deep · released about 2.7 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 30 kmMono County 58 kmEsmeralda County 83 kmLyon County 112 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
9:06 pm PST on 20 February 2022 ()
Where
38 km (24 mi) southeast of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 30 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Huntoon Valley fault system, 4 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 1653 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 63 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 38 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: Hawthorne 38 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× more

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 in our catalogue was M 6.5 on 2020-05-15 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.

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 38.2511, -118.3624. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 30 km (19 mi) N earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 58 km (36 mi) SW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 83 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Lyon County, NV 112 km (70 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 131 km (81 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 29 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  2. 1.9 34 km NW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  3. 2.6 29 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  4. 1.5 34 km NW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  5. 1.5 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  6. 2.0 29 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  7. 1.7 35 km NW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  8. 1.8 35 km NW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  9. 2.9 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  10. 2.2 18 km ENE of Mina, Nevada
  11. 2.2 27 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  12. 1.8 28 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  13. 1.7 27 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  14. 1.5 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  15. 1.5 34 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

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