QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

50 km SW of Alamo, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 50 km SW of Alamo, Nevada, 91 km (57 mi) NNW of Las Vegas, NV, at 3:16 pm PST on 13 December 2022 (23:16 UTC), 4.1 km deep.

91 km (57 mi) NNW of Las Vegas, NV

· 4.1 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lincoln County 90 kmClark 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lincoln County, 90 km NE
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 13 km (8 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 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 4.1 on 2017-07-17 — about 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 67 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.9 66 km ENE of Beatty, Nevada · 46 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 64 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada · 45 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 63 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada · 45 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 66 km ENE of Beatty, Nevada · 46 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 65 km SSW of Rachel, Nevada · 47 km W 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 37.0266, -115.5371. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lincoln County, NV 90 km (56 mi) NE earthquakes near Lincoln County
Clark County, NV 102 km (63 mi) SSE earthquakes near Clark County
Nye County, NV 132 km (82 mi) NW earthquakes near Nye County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 9 km NW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  2. 1.6 8 km NW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  3. 4.4 8 km NW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  4. 2.5 14 km SSE of Alamo, Nevada
  5. 2.2 33 km NW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  6. 2.9 9 km NW of Indian Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.6 6 km SSE of Alamo, Nevada
  8. 1.7 4 km SSE of Alamo, Nevada
  9. 1.6 23 km W of Alamo, Nevada
  10. 1.6 12 km W of Alamo, Nevada
  11. 1.5 17 km SSW of Alamo, Nevada
  12. 1.5 11 km WSW of Alamo, Nevada
  13. 2.1 31 km SSW of Alamo, Nevada
  14. 2.1 24 km SW of Hiko, Nevada
  15. 2.4 39 km S of Rachel, 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.