Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Tonopah, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Tonopah in the 24 hours to 2:07 pm PST (22:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 55 km (34 mi) W, at 1:52 am PDT on 25 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tonopah
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) south-southeast of Tonopah, NV, at 11:58 am PDT on 28 August 2024 (18:58 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- When
- 11:58 am PDT on 28 August 2024 ()
- Where
- 37 km (23 mi) south-southeast of Tonopah, NV · earthquakes near Tonopah
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 43 km W
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 806 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tonopah, NV
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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 Tonopah, 37 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 4.1 on 2019-06-11 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 39 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Goldfield, Nevada · 29 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 41 km S 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 37.7397, -117.1432. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 43 km (27 mi) | W | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Nye County, NV | 65 km (40 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nye County |
| Mineral County, NV | 141 km (88 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.2 9 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.8 9 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 3.1 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.9 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.9 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.6 9 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.1 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.0 10 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.0 9 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.5 17 km ESE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.8 8 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.5 8 km ENE of Goldfield, 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.