Earthquake near Topaz Ranch Estates, NV

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. In Topaz Ranch Estates, 8 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 Valley, Smith, Gardnerville Ranchos.

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 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 5,600,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 19 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994
2. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 48 km NE of this epicentre Jan 11, 1939
3. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 41 km S of this epicentre Dec 19, 1919
4. 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 38 km NW of this epicentre Dec 17, 1942
5. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 18 km NW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1994

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 38.6696, -119.5485. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 3.1 4 km W of Walker, CA 01:34 UTC
2. 2.5 5 km NW of Walker, CA 05:12 UTC
3. 2.2 6 km SSW of Walker, CA 06:24 UTC
4. 1.5 2 km S of Coleville, California 22:44 UTC
5. 1.6 0 km SSE of Topaz Lake, Nevada 00:10 UTC
6. 1.5 6 km S of Gardnerville Ranchos, Nevada 21:27 UTC
7. 2.2 6km WSW of Walker, CA 11:07 UTC
8. 1.6 7 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada 13:46 UTC
9. 1.6 8km SSW of Markleeville, CA 10:25 UTC
10. 2.5 17km NW of Walker, CA 21:51 UTC
11. 1.5 4 km W of Walker, California 11:16 UTC
12. 2.4 5km W of Walker, CA 10:42 UTC
13. 2.3 13km SW of Walker, CA 18:51 UTC
14. 1.6 3 km NNE of Carter Springs, Nevada 09:51 UTC
15. 2.2 7km SSE of Markleeville, CA 20:51 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 06:54 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

• The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
• Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
• ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.