QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Smith Valley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Smith Valley in the 24 hours to 5:17 am PST (13:17 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southwest of Smith Valley, NV, at 10:14 pm PST on 12 December 2022 (06:14 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SSW of Smith Valley, Nevada

99 km (62 mi) SSE of Reno, NV · 56 km (35 mi) SE of Carson, NV

10:14 pm PST, Dec 12, 2022 · · 11 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Smith Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Douglas County 28 kmLyon County 35 kmAlpine County 39 kmCarson City 56 kmStorey County 79 kmMineral County 87 kmTuolumne County 95 kmEl Dorado County 101 kmMono County 101 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
10:14 pm PST on 12 December 2022 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south-southwest of Smith Valley, NV · earthquakes near Smith Valley
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Douglas County, 28 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Antelope Valley fault, 12 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 1430 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. In Smith Valley, 6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Smith, Topaz Ranch Estates.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 2,800,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 50 km SSW 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 38.7361, -119.3757. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Douglas County, NV 28 km (17 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 35 km (22 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 39 km (24 mi) WSW earthquakes near Alpine County
Carson City, NV 56 km (35 mi) NW earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 79 km (49 mi) N earthquakes near Storey County
Mineral County, NV 87 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mineral County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 13km SW of Walker, CA
  2. 1.6 3 km NNE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  3. 2.2 7km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  4. 2.6 6km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  5. 3.1 6km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  6. 2.4 16km NW of Walker, CA
  7. 1.5 5 km SW of Coleville, California
  8. 2.2 7km WNW of Walker, CA
  9. 2.3 5km WNW of Walker, CA
  10. 2.1 5km WNW of Walker, CA
  11. 2.1 1 km SSE of Markleeville, California
  12. 1.5 2 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  13. 2.9 5km W of Walker, CA
  14. 2.3 7km SSW of Markleeville, CA
  15. 2.5 3km WNW of Walker, CA

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.