QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 2:47 am PST (10:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) northwest of Hawthorne, NV, at 8:40 am PST on 2 March 2023 (16:40 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: California-Nevada border region

8:40 am PST, Mar 2, 2023 · · 0.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 33 kmLyon County 56 kmDouglas County 79 kmMono County 83 kmAlpine County 91 kmCarson City 102 kmChurchill County 107 kmStorey County 109 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
8:40 am PST on 2 March 2023 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) northwest of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 33 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range fault, under 1 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 1352 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 19 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.

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 in our catalogue was M 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 500,000 times the energy of this one.

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 38.6564, -118.7551. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 33 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mineral County
Lyon County, NV 56 km (35 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 79 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Douglas County
Mono County, CA 83 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near Mono County
Alpine County, CA 91 km (56 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine County
Carson City, NV 102 km (63 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carson City

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 34 km E of Schurz, Nevada
  2. 1.7 9 km NW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  3. 1.5 9 km ESE of Yerington, Nevada
  4. 1.7 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  5. 2.2 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  6. 1.6 20 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  7. 1.5 20 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  8. 1.5 20 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  9. 2.1 19 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  10. 2.1 20 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  11. 3.0 21 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  12. 1.6 21 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  13. 3.0 California-Nevada border region
  14. 2.2 19 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  15. 2.4 California-Nevada border region

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.