QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 2:12 pm PST (22:12 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north-northeast of Hawthorne, NV, at 2:34 pm PDT on 15 June 2023 (21:34 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: California-Nevada border region

2:34 pm PDT, Jun 15, 2023 · · 17 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 28 kmLyon County 65 kmChurchill County 91 kmDouglas County 95 kmMono County 97 kmAlpine County 111 kmCarson City 114 kmStorey County 115 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
2:34 pm PDT on 15 June 2023 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) north-northeast of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 28 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Benton Spring fault, 17 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 1245 days ago

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 Hawthorne, 26 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4.5 on 2016-07-07 — about 22,000 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 38.7489, -118.5338. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 28 km (17 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mineral County
Lyon County, NV 65 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lyon County
Churchill County, NV 91 km (56 mi) NNE earthquakes near Churchill County
Douglas County, NV 95 km (59 mi) W earthquakes near Douglas County
Mono County, CA 97 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mono County
Alpine County, CA 111 km (69 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 California-Nevada border region
  2. 2.2 19 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  3. 2.4 California-Nevada border region
  4. 1.5 24 km ENE of Walker Lake, Nevada
  5. 2.0 35 km E of Schurz, Nevada
  6. 1.5 27 km SSE of Fallon Station, Nevada
  7. 1.5 20 km NNE of Schurz, Nevada
  8. 1.6 17 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  9. 2.5 16 km E of Hawthorne, Nevada
  10. 2.0 17 km NNW of Mina, Nevada
  11. 2.1 16 km E of Hawthorne, Nevada
  12. 2.6 16 km E of Hawthorne, Nevada
  13. 1.5 12 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  14. 1.6 14 km WNW of Mina, Nevada
  15. 1.6 8 km SW of Schurz, 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.