QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Las Vegas, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Las Vegas in the 24 hours to 5:22 pm PST (01:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 26 km (16 mi) W, at 1:47 pm PDT on 4 June 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 3,797 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Las Vegas

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 explosion was recorded 25 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Las Vegas, NV, at 11:12 am PDT on 18 August 2026 (18:12 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 4 km N of Blue Diamond, Nevada

20 km (12 mi) SW of Las Vegas, NV

11:12 am PDT, Aug 18, 2026 · · 16 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Las Vegas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 37 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
11:12 am PDT on 18 August 2026 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Las Vegas, NV · earthquakes near Las Vegas
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clark County, 37 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 86 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 Las Vegas, 25 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Summerlin South, Spring Valley, Enterprise, Paradise, Winchester, North Las Vegas.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

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 4.5 on 2018-07-05 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 36.0900, -115.3942. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, NV 37 km (23 mi) ENE earthquakes near Clark County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 9 km SE of Blue Diamond, Nevada
  2. 1.8 9 km ENE of Mount Charleston, Nevada
  3. 1.6 12 km SSE of Mount Charleston, Nevada
  4. 1.5 12 km ESE of Enterprise, Nevada
  5. 1.7 15 km ENE of Whitney, Nevada
  6. 1.6 14 km N of Summerlin South, Nevada
  7. 2.0 9 km SSE of Enterprise, Nevada
  8. 2.3 11 km WSW of Henderson, Nevada
  9. 1.6 13 km NNW of Summerlin South, Nevada
  10. 1.7 11 km NNW of Summerlin South, Nevada
  11. 2.3 19 km S of Henderson, Nevada
  12. 1.6 3 km E of Spring Valley, Nevada
  13. 1.9 18 km NNE of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
  14. 1.6 7 km SSW of Enterprise, Nevada
  15. 1.8 5 km E of Enterprise, 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.