Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Ely, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Ely in the 24 hours to 2:59 am PST (10:59 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 49 km (30 mi) SW, at 5:55 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Ely
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) southwest of Ely, NV, at 1:38 am PDT on 27 September 2026 (08:38 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 25 km WNW of Preston, Nevada
- When
- 1:38 am PDT on 27 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) southwest of Ely, NV · earthquakes near Ely
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- White Pine County, 61 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Preston fault, 22 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 47 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ely, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ely, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Ely, 49 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 4.8 on 2026-09-27 — about 28,000 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 38.9882, -115.3433. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Pine County, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | NE | earthquakes near White Pine County |
| Eureka County, NV | 136 km (84 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Eureka County |
| Nye County, NV | 150 km (93 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Nye County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
22 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 21 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 2.2 18 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 3.5 21 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 2.8 39 km WNW of Preston, Nevada
- 2.4 23 km WNW of Preston, Nevada
- 3.4 19 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 2.4 19 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 2.5 20 km WNW of Preston, Nevada
- 2.7 18 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 1.8 21 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 3.3 19 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 2.8 18 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 3.5 25 km WNW of Preston, Nevada
- 2.2 24 km W of Preston, Nevada
- 2.0 26 km WNW of Preston, 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 50 km NNW of Rachel, Nevada | 25 km WNW of Preston, Nevada | |
| longitude | -115.96 | -115.34 | |
| latitude | 38.07 | 38.99 | |
| depth | 0.05 | 0 | |
| magnitude | 1.64 | 1.84 |
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.