QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

45 km SE of Imlay, Nevada

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 45 km SE of Imlay, Nevada, at 4:39 pm PST on 30 December 2021 (00:39 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pershing County 59 kmLander County 82 kmChurchill County 110 kmHumboldt County 114 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
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pershing County, 59 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Grass Valley fault, 11 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 1714 days 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. 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 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.8 The 1915 Pleasant Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Pleasant Valley, Nevada (Foreshock) · 19 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 31 km WSW of Battle Mountain, Nevada · 40 km E 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 40.4315, -117.7098. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pershing County, NV 59 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Pershing County
Lander County, NV 82 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Lander County
Churchill County, NV 110 km (68 mi) SSW earthquakes near Churchill County
Humboldt County, NV 114 km (71 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humboldt County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.7 31 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  2. 1.8 33 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  3. 1.6 34 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  4. 1.5 6 km SSE of Humboldt, Nevada
  5. 1.9 30 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  6. 1.8 35 km SSE of Humboldt, Nevada
  7. 1.7 29 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  8. 1.5 31 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  9. 1.6 29 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  10. 1.7 30 km ENE of Lovelock, Nevada
  11. 2.6 37 km ESE of Imlay, Nevada
  12. 3.1 64 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  13. 1.5 53 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  14. 2.0 63 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  15. 1.6 27 km ENE of Lovelock, 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.

On USGS

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