Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 1:23 pm PST (21:23 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 40 km (25 mi) east of Hawthorne, NV, at 3:39 pm PDT on 4 August 2023 (22:39 UTC), 7.8 km deep.
USGS: 17 km NNW of Mina, Nevada
- When
- 3:39 pm PDT on 4 August 2023 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) east of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mineral County, 22 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Benton Spring fault, 7 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 1196 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hawthorne, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hawthorne, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 40 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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 since 2016 was M 6.5 on 2020-05-15 — about 22,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 26 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 19 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 34 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 34 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km SW of Gabbs, Nevada · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 18 km S of Gabbs, Nevada · 29 km NE 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 38.5392, -118.1603. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral County, NV | 22 km (14 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Mono County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 96 km (60 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Lyon County, NV | 105 km (65 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Churchill County, NV | 111 km (69 mi) | N | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Storey County, NV | 155 km (96 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Storey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 30 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.7 Nevada
- 2.6 31 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.7 Nevada
- 1.5 8 km SW of Mina, Nevada
- 1.6 32 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 32 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 30 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.6 32 km SE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 Nevada
- 1.7 27 km ESE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.4 27 km ESE of Mina, Nevada
- 1.5 28 km SSE of Mina, Nevada
- 2.3 31 km SSE of Mina, 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
- 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.