QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Beatty, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Beatty in the 24 hours to 10:23 pm PST (06:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 17 km (11 mi) SSW, at 2:01 pm PDT on 28 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Beatty

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) northwest of Beatty, NV, at 4:41 am PDT on 15 March 2025 (11:41 UTC), 8.5 km deep.

USGS: 47 km NW of Beatty, Nevada

4:41 am PDT, Mar 15, 2025 · · 8.5 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 77 kmInyo County 78 kmNye County 101 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
4:41 am PDT on 15 March 2025 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) northwest of Beatty, NV · earthquakes near Beatty
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
8.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 77 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 544 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Beatty, 47 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 310 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 · 19 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 Near Goldfield, Nevada · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 18 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 37.2216, -117.1179. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 77 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 78 km (48 mi) SSW earthquakes near Inyo County
Nye County, NV 101 km (63 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye 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. 1.5 38 km NW of Beatty, Nevada
  2. 1.5 56 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  3. 1.6 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  4. 1.7 51 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  5. 1.9 54 km ESE of Goldfield, Nevada
  6. 2.5 50 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  7. 1.6 34 km SSE of Silver Peak, Nevada
  8. 1.6 50 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  9. 1.5 54 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  10. 2.3 52 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  11. 1.9 40 km SE of Goldfield, Nevada
  12. 1.9 62 km NNE of Keeler, California
  13. 1.7 40 km SE of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 1.8 40 km SE of Goldfield, Nevada
  15. 1.7 42 km S 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.