QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Fernley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Fernley in the 24 hours to 2:48 pm PDT (21:48 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 14 km (9 mi) E, at 7:39 pm PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Fernley

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Fernley, NV, at 10:12 am PDT on 19 October 2026 (17:12 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 13 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada

64 km (40 mi) E of Reno, NV · 53 km (33 mi) E of Sparks, NV

10:12 am PDT, Oct 19, 2026 · · 12 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 40 kmLyon County 63 kmChurchill County 72 kmCarson City 73 kmDouglas County 87 kmPershing County 112 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
10:12 am PDT on 19 October 2026 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Fernley, NV · earthquakes near Fernley
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 40 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Hot Springs Mountains fault, 4 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 29 hours ago

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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Fernley, 13 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Silver Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 5.7 on 2024-12-09 — about 1,100,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 23 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1954 Rainbow Mountain, Nevada Earthquake · 49 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 22 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 35 km ENE of Nixon, Nevada · 47 km N 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 39.5827, -119.0992. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 40 km (25 mi) WSW earthquakes near Storey County
Lyon County, NV 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Lyon County
Churchill County, NV 72 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Churchill County
Carson City, NV 73 km (46 mi) SW earthquakes near Carson City
Douglas County, NV 87 km (54 mi) SSW earthquakes near Douglas County
Pershing County, NV 112 km (70 mi) NNE earthquakes near Pershing 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.

  1. 1.6 19 km ESE of Spanish Springs, 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 changedFromToWhen
review statusautomaticreviewed
location13 km E of Fernley, Nevada13 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
longitude-119.1-119.1
latitude39.5939.58
depth8.4911.56
magnitude1.651.67

On USGS

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