QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada, at 3:46 am PST on 3 January 2025 (11:46 UTC), 7.2 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 7.2 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 64 kmNye County 89 kmInyo County 93 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 2.5 (ml)
Depth
7.2 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 64 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 605 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 21 km (13 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 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 4.3 on 2023-05-21 — about 440 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 5 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 Near Goldfield, Nevada · 19 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 6 km ENE 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 37.3657, -117.1332. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Nye County, NV 89 km (55 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County
Inyo County, CA 93 km (57 mi) SSW earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 48 km SE of Goldfield, Nevada
  2. 2.1 23 km SSE of Silver Peak, Nevada
  3. 1.7 58 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  4. 1.7 62 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  5. 1.5 36 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  6. 1.6 45 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  7. 2.6 47 km NW of Beatty, Nevada
  8. 2.1 48 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  9. 1.5 44 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  10. 1.5 41 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  11. 1.5 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  12. 1.8 38 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  13. 1.8 38 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 1.9 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  15. 1.7 37 km SSE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.