Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Smith, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Smith in the 24 hours to 6:23 am PST (14:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 9 km (6 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV, at 2:04 am PST on 5 January 2024 (10:04 UTC), 8.5 km deep.
USGS: 5 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
98 km (61 mi) SSE of Reno, NV · 58 km (36 mi) SE of Carson, NV
- When
- 2:04 am PST on 5 January 2024 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV · earthquakes near Smith
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lyon County, 27 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Smith Valley 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 1042 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Smith, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Smith, 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Smith, 5 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Smith Valley, Topaz Ranch Estates, Yerington.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 1,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 43 km N of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 33 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 24 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 38 km NNE 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 38.7879, -119.2698. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyon County, NV | 27 km (17 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 32 km (20 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Alpine County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Carson City, NV | 58 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Storey County, NV | 76 km (47 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Mineral County, NV | 80 km (50 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Mineral County |
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.
- 2.7 12 km N of Walker, CA
- 2.2 3 km ENE of Topaz, California
- 1.6 14 km E of Topaz, California
- 1.6 9 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada
- 2.5 6 km NW of Walker, CA
- 1.5 3 km WSW of Coleville, California
- 1.9 9 km ESE of Markleeville, California
- 2.7 6 km NNW of Walker, CA
- 2.1 3 km NNW of Markleeville, CA
- 1.6 13 km E of Topaz, California
- 2.9 5 km WNW of Walker, CA
- 2.5 17 km WSW of Schurz, Nevada
- 2.5 5 km NNW of Walker, CA
- 1.5 17 km SSE of Walker, California
- 2.8 3 km W of Walker, CA
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.