QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 6:31 am PST (14:31 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 23 km (14 mi) N, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Hawthorne

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Hawthorne, NV, at 3:56 am PST on 14 January 2025 (11:56 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

USGS: 13 km ESE of Hawthorne, Nevada

3:56 am PST, Jan 14, 2025 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 7 kmMono County 72 kmLyon County 86 kmEsmeralda County 108 kmDouglas County 108 kmAlpine County 115 kmChurchill County 119 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
3:56 am PST on 14 January 2025 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mineral County, 7 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range 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 668 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 13 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 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 1,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 25 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Aftershock) · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Aftershock) · 21 km SSE 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 38.4805, -118.4836. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 7 km (4 mi) NE earthquakes near Mineral County
Mono County, CA 72 km (44 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mono County
Lyon County, NV 86 km (54 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Esmeralda County, NV 108 km (67 mi) SE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Douglas County, NV 108 km (67 mi) WNW earthquakes near Douglas County
Alpine County, CA 115 km (72 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 6 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  2. 1.8 17 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  3. 1.7 30 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  4. 1.6 17 km S of Schurz, Nevada
  5. 1.5 16 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  6. 2.7 17 km S of Schurz, Nevada
  7. 1.7 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  8. 1.6 16 km NNW of Walker Lake, Nevada
  9. 2.8 34 km SSE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  10. 1.8 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  11. 1.8 30 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  12. 1.7 13 km ESE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  13. 1.9 24 km ESE of Schurz, Nevada
  14. 2.0 32 km SSE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  15. 1.8 29 km WSW of Hawthorne, 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.