explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Tonopah, NV
USGS: 3 km N of Goldfield, Nevada
- When
- 5:30 pm PDT on 29 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 36 km (23 mi) S of Tonopah, NV · earthquakes near Tonopah
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 35 km W
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 days ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 36 km (23 mi) S of Tonopah, NV, at 5:30 pm PDT on 29 September 2026 (00:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 4.0 on 2020-03-13 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 41 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Goldfield, Nevada · 34 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 34 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 43 km SSE 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 37.7393, -117.2376. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 35 km (22 mi) | W | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Nye County, NV | 73 km (45 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nye County |
| Mineral County, NV | 135 km (84 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| event type | earthquake | explosion | |
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 7 km N of Goldfield, Nevada | 3 km N of Goldfield, Nevada | |
| longitude | -117.23 | -117.24 | |
| latitude | 37.78 | 37.74 | |
| depth | 4.2 | 0 | |
| magnitude | 1.54 | 1.52 |
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.