Earthquake near Spanish Springs, NV

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Spanish Springs, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Spanish Springs 5 km, intensity III · Sparks 15 km, intensity III · Reno 19 km, intensity III · Cold Springs 28 km, intensity II · Fernley 35 km, intensity II · Silver Springs 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× more

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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 30 km ESE of this epicentre Apr 24, 1914
2. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 21 km SW of this epicentre Feb 18, 1914
3. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 38 km WSW of this epicentre Dec 29, 1948
4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 47 km W of this epicentre Apr 1, 1959
5. 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 31 km E of this epicentre Dec 3, 1942

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 39.6486, -119.6521. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.4 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 23:54 UTC
2. 2.9 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 23:53 UTC
3. 2.7 7 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 19:52 UTC
4. 2.2 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 07:48 UTC
5. 2.2 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 00:24 UTC
6. 1.6 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 02:48 UTC
7. 2.3 Nevada 02:47 UTC
8. 2.0 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 02:46 UTC
9. 2.0 15 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada 22:10 UTC
10. 1.9 5 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 14:29 UTC
11. 1.6 Nevada 09:50 UTC
12. 1.9 5 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 09:45 UTC
13. 2.0 5 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 09:33 UTC
14. 1.8 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 04:32 UTC
15. 1.7 9 km SE of Doyle, California 09:24 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 21:21 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.