24 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada

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 19 km (12 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 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 2024-08-23 — about 1,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 7.1 The 1954 Fairview Peak, Nevada Earthquake · 36 km NNE of this epicentre Dec 16, 1954
2. 6.8 The 1932 Cedar Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 40 km SSE of this epicentre Dec 21, 1932
3. 5.8 48 km NNW of Gabbs, Nevada · 41 km N of this epicentre Dec 16, 1954
4. 5.5 10 km SW of Gabbs, Nevada · 21 km SE of this epicentre Dec 25, 1932
5. 5.5 18 km S of Gabbs, Nevada · 35 km SE of this epicentre Feb 13, 1933

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 38.9119, -118.1958. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 14 km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada 22:12 UTC
2. 1.5 13 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada 07:34 UTC
3. 1.8 24 km ENE of Schurz, Nevada 12:36 UTC
4. 1.5 26 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada 13:10 UTC
5. 1.8 25 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada 04:28 UTC
6. 1.6 25 km ESE of Fallon Station, Nevada 23:57 UTC
7. 2.0 12 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada 03:23 UTC
8. 3.0 12 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada 19:54 UTC
9. 1.6 8 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada 10:02 UTC
10. 2.3 12 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada 08:57 UTC
11. 2.3 12 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada 11:13 UTC
12. 1.5 20 km NE of Mina, Nevada 03:24 UTC
13. 2.5 23 km NE of Hawthorne, Nevada 23:39 UTC
14. 1.5 17 km NNW of Mina, Nevada 13:51 UTC
15. 1.6 21 km NW of Gabbs, Nevada 03:55 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 05:08 UTC. 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.