QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

40 km WSW of Empire, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 40 km WSW of Empire, Nevada, at 3:59 am PDT on 9 April 2024 (10:59 UTC), 9.2 km deep.

· 9.2 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washoe County 30 kmLassen County 74 kmPlumas County 103 kmPershing County 117 kmSierra County 118 kmStorey County 118 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
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
9.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Washoe County, 30 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Bonham Ranch fault, under 1 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 879 days ago

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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 49 km SSW 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 40.4768, -119.7968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Washoe County, NV 30 km (19 mi) NNE earthquakes near Washoe County
Lassen County, CA 74 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lassen County
Plumas County, CA 103 km (64 mi) WSW earthquakes near Plumas County
Pershing County, NV 117 km (73 mi) E earthquakes near Pershing County
Sierra County, CA 118 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sierra County
Storey County, NV 118 km (73 mi) SSE earthquakes near Storey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 13 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  2. 2.0 26 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  3. 1.7 32 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  4. 1.5 32 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  5. 2.0 27 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  6. 3.1 18 km W of Empire, Nevada
  7. 3.0 18 km W of Empire, Nevada
  8. 1.6 30 km W of Gerlach, Nevada
  9. 2.1 17 km SE of Honey Lake, CA
  10. 2.5 22 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  11. 2.4 20 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  12. 2.2 26 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  13. 2.7 25 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  14. 1.7 22 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
  15. 1.9 28 km W of Gerlach, 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.