QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 2:44 pm PST (22:44 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) south-southeast of Hawthorne, NV, at 8:19 pm PDT on 15 May 2022 (03:19 UTC), 8.2 km deep.

USGS: 29 km WSW of Mina, Nevada

8:19 pm PDT, May 15, 2022 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hawthorne Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 29 kmMono County 56 kmEsmeralda County 85 kmLyon County 110 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
8:19 pm PDT on 15 May 2022 ()
Where
36 km (22 mi) south-southeast of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 29 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Huntoon Valley fault system, under 1 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 1641 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 36 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 500,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 5 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 45 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 5 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 37 km N of Dyer, Nevada · 39 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 45 km SE 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 38.2523, -118.3998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 29 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 56 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 85 km (53 mi) SE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Lyon County, NV 110 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 128 km (79 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County
Carson City, NV 154 km (96 mi) NW earthquakes near Carson City

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.

  1. 1.9 20km SE of Bodie, CA
  2. 1.6 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  3. 1.6 29 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  4. 1.5 32 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  5. 3.1 44km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  6. 2.2 44km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  7. 2.1 34km SSW of Qualeys Camp, NV
  8. 2.4 31 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  9. 2.7 23 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  10. 1.6 31 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  11. 1.5 30 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  12. 1.9 29 km SE of Mina, Nevada
  13. 1.8 28 km NNW of Benton, California
  14. 2.0 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
  15. 1.5 26 km SSW 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.