QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

40 km NNE of Nixon, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 40 km NNE of Nixon, Nevada, 90 km (56 mi) NE of Reno, NV, at 7:26 am PST on 8 November 2022 (15:26 UTC), 14 km deep.

90 km (56 mi) NE of Reno, NV

· 14 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pershing County 70 kmWashoe County 77 kmStorey County 86 kmChurchill County 102 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 1.7 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pershing County, 70 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Granite Springs Valley fault, 25 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 1465 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 35 km ENE of Nixon, Nevada · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 12 km WSW of Lovelock, Nevada · 47 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 40.1562, -119.1475. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pershing County, NV 70 km (44 mi) ENE earthquakes near Pershing County
Washoe County, NV 77 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Washoe County
Storey County, NV 86 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Storey County
Churchill County, NV 102 km (63 mi) SE earthquakes near Churchill County
Carson City, NV 123 km (76 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 134 km (83 mi) WSW earthquakes near Sierra County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 8 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  2. 2.3 18 km SSW of Empire, Nevada
  3. 1.8 3 km W of Nixon, Nevada
  4. 1.9 9 km SE of Nixon, Nevada
  5. 1.8 4 km W of Nixon, Nevada
  6. 1.8 19 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  7. 1.6 39 km NNE of Nixon, Nevada
  8. 2.0 14 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  9. 2.6 31 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  10. 2.5 32 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  11. 1.9 24 km WNW of Lovelock, Nevada
  12. 1.8 12 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  13. 2.5 16 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  14. 1.7 41 km E of Nixon, Nevada
  15. 1.5 16 km NNW of Sutcliffe, 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.