QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Smith, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Smith in the 24 hours to 9:20 am PST (17:20 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV, at 1:00 pm PST on 3 January 2025 (21:00 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 11 km ESE of Smith, Nevada

1:00 pm PST, Jan 3, 2025 · · 11 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Smith Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lyon County 30 kmDouglas County 38 kmAlpine County 53 kmCarson City 64 kmMineral County 74 kmStorey County 81 kmMono County 98 kmTuolumne County 104 kmEl Dorado County 114 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
1:00 pm PST on 3 January 2025 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Smith, NV · earthquakes near Smith
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lyon County, 30 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Smith Valley fault, 12 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 602 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Smith, 11 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 5,600,000 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 · 48 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 39 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 28 km N 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 · 40 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 38.7516, -119.2143. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lyon County, NV 30 km (19 mi) N earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 38 km (24 mi) WNW earthquakes near Douglas County
Alpine County, CA 53 km (33 mi) WSW earthquakes near Alpine County
Carson City, NV 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Carson City
Mineral County, NV 74 km (46 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mineral County
Storey County, NV 81 km (50 mi) NNW 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. 1.7 21 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  2. 1.7 21 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  3. 1.7 22 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  4. 3.2 22 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  5. 2.3 17 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
  6. 1.5 23 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  7. 2.0 15 km ENE of Yerington, Nevada
  8. 1.5 19 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  9. 1.9 16 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
  10. 1.5 17 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
  11. 1.7 23 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  12. 1.5 22 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  13. 1.6 20 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  14. 2.0 17 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada
  15. 2.2 17 km NNE of Yerington, 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.