QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Silver Springs, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Silver Springs in the 24 hours to 9:31 pm PST (05:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (12 mi) ESE, at 2:34 am PDT on 15 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Silver Springs

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east of Silver Springs, NV, at 6:09 pm PDT on 21 May 2026 (01:09 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 10 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada

65 km (41 mi) ESE of Reno, NV · 55 km (34 mi) ESE of Sparks, NV

6:09 pm PDT, May 21, 2026 · · 13 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 36 kmLyon County 46 kmCarson City 63 kmDouglas County 73 kmChurchill County 73 kmAlpine County 108 kmMineral County 117 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
6:09 pm PDT on 21 May 2026 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east of Silver Springs, NV · earthquakes near Silver Springs
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 36 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Carson lineament, 4 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 174 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 Silver Springs, 10 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: Fernley, Stagecoach, Fallon.

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 5.7 on 2024-12-09 — about 2,100,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 24 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 46 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 33 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 21 km SSE of Fallon Station, Nevada · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 16 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada · 49 km E 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 39.4274, -119.1038. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 36 km (22 mi) W earthquakes near Storey County
Lyon County, NV 46 km (28 mi) S earthquakes near Lyon County
Carson City, NV 63 km (39 mi) WSW earthquakes near Carson City
Douglas County, NV 73 km (45 mi) SW earthquakes near Douglas County
Churchill County, NV 73 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Churchill County
Alpine County, CA 108 km (67 mi) SW earthquakes near Alpine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 18 km SSE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  2. 2.3 17 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  3. 2.5 17 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  4. 1.9 15 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  5. 1.8 16 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
  6. 1.9 19 km ESE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  7. 2.1 19 km ESE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  8. 1.5 19 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
  9. 1.9 17 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  10. 1.8 19 km NE of Yerington, Nevada
  11. 1.9 17 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  12. 2.1 19 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  13. 1.5 13 km ESE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  14. 2.7 19 km SSE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  15. 1.7 19 km ESE of Silver Springs, 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.