QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Smith Valley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Smith Valley in the 24 hours to 11:28 am PST (19:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) SSW, at 5:40 am PDT on 9 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Smith Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south of Smith Valley, NV, at 6:30 am PDT on 19 September 2024 (13:30 UTC), 9.7 km deep.

USGS: 14 km E of Topaz, California

6:30 am PDT, Sep 19, 2024 · · 9.7 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Smith Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Douglas County 37 kmAlpine County 39 kmLyon County 45 kmCarson City 67 kmMineral County 83 kmTuolumne County 87 kmStorey County 90 kmMono County 90 kmEl Dorado County 104 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
6:30 am PDT on 19 September 2024 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) south of Smith Valley, NV · earthquakes near Smith Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Douglas County, 37 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Smith Valley fault, 6 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 784 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Smith Valley, 16 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: Topaz Ranch Estates, Smith.

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 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 47 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 34 km WNW 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 38.6375, -119.3533. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Douglas County, NV 37 km (23 mi) NW earthquakes near Douglas County
Alpine County, CA 39 km (24 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine County
Lyon County, NV 45 km (28 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lyon County
Carson City, NV 67 km (41 mi) NNW earthquakes near Carson City
Mineral County, NV 83 km (51 mi) E earthquakes near Mineral County
Tuolumne County, CA 87 km (54 mi) SW earthquakes near Tuolumne County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 2 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  2. 1.8 3 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  3. 1.8 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  4. 2.4 10 km NE of Walker, CA
  5. 1.5 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  6. 1.6 3 km WSW of Coleville, California
  7. 1.5 1 km NNW of Walker, California
  8. 1.9 9 km SSE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  9. 3.0 10 km SSE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  10. 2.3 4 km NNE of East Valley, Nevada
  11. 1.5 10 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
  12. 2.2 11 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
  13. 1.5 10 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
  14. 2.9 11 km ESE of Smith, Nevada
  15. 1.5 11 km ESE of Smith, 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.