QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Smith, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Smith in the 24 hours to 11:24 am PST (19:24 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV, at 4:22 pm PST on 29 January 2024 (00:22 UTC), 8.3 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

4:22 pm PST, Jan 29, 2024 · · 8.3 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Smith Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 27 kmDouglas County 32 kmAlpine County 49 kmCarson City 58 kmStorey County 75 kmMineral County 80 kmMono County 103 kmTuolumne County 105 kmEl Dorado County 110 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
4:22 pm PST on 29 January 2024 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV · earthquakes near Smith
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
8.3 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 1017 days ago

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 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 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 since 2016 was M 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 4,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 43 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 33 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 24 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 37 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 38.7897, -119.2707. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection 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 75 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.

  1. 3.4 5 km W of Walker, CA
  2. 1.6 14 km E of Topaz, California
  3. 1.6 15 km E of Topaz, California
  4. 1.7 1 km WSW of Coleville, California
  5. 2.4 19 km E of Markleeville, CA
  6. 3.5 18 km E of Markleeville, CA
  7. 1.5 16 km N of Walker Lake, Nevada
  8. 2.5 14 km E of Topaz, California
  9. 1.5 4 km W of Walker, California
  10. 1.5 6 km NNE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  11. 1.5 4 km ENE of Topaz, California
  12. 2.7 12 km N of Walker, CA
  13. 2.2 3 km ENE of Topaz, California
  14. 1.6 14 km E of Topaz, California
  15. 1.6 9 km S of Carter Springs, 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.