Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Fernley, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Fernley in the 24 hours to 6:15 pm PST (02:15 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 14 km (9 mi) E, at 7:39 pm PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Fernley
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) northeast of Fernley, NV, at 9:49 pm PST on 28 December 2023 (05:49 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 44 km SW of Lovelock, Nevada
94 km (59 mi) ENE of Reno, NV
- When
- 9:49 pm PST on 28 December 2023 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) northeast of Fernley, NV · earthquakes near Fernley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Churchill County, 63 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Western Humboldt Range fault, 16 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 1049 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fernley, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fernley, 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Fernley, 47 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 40 km S of Lovelock, Nevada · 33 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 29 km NE of Fallon Station, Nevada · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.0 35 km ENE of Nixon, Nevada · 18 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 12 km WSW of Lovelock, Nevada · 33 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 39.8926, -118.8404. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill County, NV | 63 km (39 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Pershing County, NV | 71 km (44 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Pershing County |
| Storey County, NV | 77 km (48 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Lyon County, NV | 102 km (63 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Carson City, NV | 113 km (70 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Washoe County, NV | 116 km (72 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Washoe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
31 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 12 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.8 35 km S of Lovelock, Nevada
- 1.7 34 km SSE of Lovelock, Nevada
- 1.7 13 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.5 13 km E of Fernley, Nevada
- 2.3 14 km E of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.9 14 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 2.3 14 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.6 13 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.7 12 km NW of Fallon, Nevada
- 1.8 29 km WNW of Lovelock, Nevada
- 1.9 14 km E of Fernley, Nevada
- 2.0 25 km WNW of Lovelock, Nevada
- 2.0 28 km NW of Lovelock, Nevada
- 2.2 39 km SW of Lovelock, 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.