Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.9ml
Earthquake near Tonopah, NV
USGS: 16 km SSE of Tonopah, Nevada
- When
- 5:30 am PDT on 25 October 2025 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) SSE of Tonopah, NV · earthquakes near Tonopah
- Magnitude
- M 3.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 45 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Crescent Dunes fault, 17 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 260 days ago
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) SSE of Tonopah, NV, at 5:30 am PDT on 25 October 2025 (12:30 UTC). 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 10 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.9 about 10 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 21× more
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 4.1 on 2021-04-28 — about 2.1 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 33 km W 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 37.9349, -117.1548. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 45 km (28 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Nye County, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Nye County |
| Mineral County, NV | 128 km (79 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
35 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 12 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.5 3 km N of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.5 3 km WNW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.7 39 km NE of Tonopah, Nevada
- 1.6 30 km NE of Tonopah, Nevada
- 1.5 45 km E of Tonopah, Nevada
- 1.7 6 km NW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 46 km E of Tonopah, Nevada
- 1.9 25 km WNW of Tonopah, Nevada
- 1.5 43 km NE of Tonopah, Nevada
- 1.6 16 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 15 km WSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 21 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.1 21 km ENE of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.8 34 km NE of Tonopah, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.