Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.8ml
12 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 35 km WNW
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days ago
A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 12 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada at 11:43 UTC on 2026-10-01. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
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 4.3 on 2023-05-21 — about 4,300 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 · 31 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 Near Goldfield, Nevada · 29 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 30km WSW of Tonopah, NV · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 33 km SE 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 37.6087, -117.3041. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 35 km (21 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Nye County, NV | 84 km (52 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nye County |
| Inyo County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | S | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Mineral County, NV | 140 km (87 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have 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.
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.