QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, NV

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) N of Hawthorne, NV, at 12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026 (19:54 UTC), 10 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.

USGS: 12 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada

12:54 pm PDT, Oct 14, 2026 · · 10 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mineral County 31 kmLyon County 57 kmDouglas County 85 kmMono County 93 kmChurchill County 96 kmAlpine County 100 kmCarson City 106 kmStorey County 109 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
12:54 pm PDT on 14 October 2026 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) N of Hawthorne, NV · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Mineral County, 31 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Wassuk Range fault, 10 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 2 hours ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Hawthorne, 23 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.

Likely felt in: Hawthorne 23 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 6,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.5 13 km NW of Schurz, Nevada · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 12 km NNW of Mina, Nevada · 50 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Aftershock) · 43 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 30 km WNW of Gabbs, Nevada · 44 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 21 km S of Hawthorne, Nevada · 45 km S 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 38.7308, -118.6531. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mineral County, NV 31 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Mineral County
Lyon County, NV 57 km (36 mi) NW earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 85 km (53 mi) WNW earthquakes near Douglas County
Mono County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mono County
Churchill County, NV 96 km (60 mi) NNE earthquakes near Churchill County
Alpine County, CA 100 km (62 mi) W earthquakes near Alpine 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
measured intensitynot reported2.89
review statusautomaticreviewed
location13 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada12 km NE of Walker Lake, Nevada
longitude-118.66-118.65
latitude38.7438.73
depth0.0310.18
magnitude3.123.04

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.