QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

50 km W of Austin, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 50 km W of Austin, Nevada, at 10:35 pm PST on 27 January 2023 (06:35 UTC), 3.4 km deep.

· 3.4 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Churchill County 53 kmLander County 64 kmPershing County 117 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
3.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Churchill County, 53 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Desatoya Mountains fault, 11 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 1382 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 9 km (6 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 4.1 on 2019-04-28 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.9 The 1954 Dixie Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 47 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 37 km W of Kingston, Nevada · 43 km SSE 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 39.5647, -117.6492. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Churchill County, NV 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Churchill County
Lander County, NV 64 km (40 mi) NE earthquakes near Lander County
Pershing County, NV 117 km (73 mi) NNW earthquakes near Pershing County
Eureka County, NV 126 km (78 mi) ENE earthquakes near Eureka County
Mineral County, NV 134 km (83 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mineral County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 60 km NW of Austin, Nevada
  2. 2.0 49 km W of Kingston, Nevada
  3. 2.9 55 km NNE of Gabbs, Nevada
  4. 1.5 44 km WNW of Austin, Nevada
  5. 1.9 57 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  6. 1.9 56 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  7. 1.8 44 km W of Austin, Nevada
  8. 1.6 72 km NW of Austin, Nevada
  9. 2.1 66 km ENE of Fallon Station, Nevada
  10. 1.6 58 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  11. 1.9 63 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  12. 1.7 67 km SE of Lovelock, Nevada
  13. 2.1 58 km N of Gabbs, Nevada
  14. 2.1 48 km W of Austin, Nevada
  15. 1.8 51 km NNW of Gabbs, 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.