QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

34 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 34 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada, at 4:28 pm PDT on 20 May 2022 (23:28 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

· 6.9 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 37 kmInyo County 100 kmNye County 118 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 37 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley 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 1637 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.8 on 2022-01-06 — about 75,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 33 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 49 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 50 km E 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 37.4421, -117.6294. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 37 km (23 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 100 km (62 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Nye County, NV 118 km (74 mi) ENE earthquakes near Nye County
Mono County, CA 122 km (76 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 138 km (86 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mineral County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  2. 2.6 17km N of Deep Springs, CA
  3. 1.8 14km N of Deep Springs, CA
  4. 1.7 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  5. 2.6 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  6. 2.1 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  7. 1.6 18 km SSE of Dyer, Nevada
  8. 3.8 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  9. 2.4 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  10. 2.1 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  11. 2.3 16km N of Deep Springs, CA
  12. 1.6 19 km SSE of Dyer, Nevada
  13. 1.7 36 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 1.7 43 km E of Big Pine, California
  15. 1.7 13 km SSE of Dyer, 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.