Earthquake near Mesquite, NV

USGS: 4 km SSW of Littlefield, Arizona

42 km (26 mi) SW of St. George, UT · 136 km (84 mi) ENE of Las Vegas, NV

3:36 am PST, Mar 7, 2016 · 2016-03-07 11:36 UTC · 8.5 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

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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: 3:36 am PST on 7 March 2016 (2016-03-07 11:36 UTC)
Where: 12 km (7 mi) ENE of Mesquite, NV · earthquakes near Mesquite
Magnitude: M 1.7 (md)
Depth: 8.5 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Washington County, 62 km NE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3014 days ago · we first saw it 3014 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) ENE of Mesquite, NV, at 3:36 am PST on 7 March 2016 (11:36 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Beaver Dam, Scenic, Bunkerville.

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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

5.9 3 km SSE of Washington, Utah · 49 km NE of this epicentre Sep 2, 1992

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Washington County, UT	62 km (38 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Washington County
Clark County, NV	118 km (74 mi)	SW	earthquakes near Clark County
Lincoln County, NV	119 km (74 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Lincoln County
Iron County, UT	131 km (81 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Iron County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.6 23 km NW of Beaver Dam, Arizona 12:57 UTC
1.8 25 km ESE of Littlefield, Arizona 15:44 UTC
1.6 20 km NW of Beaver Dam, Arizona 18:24 UTC
2.6 21 km NW of Beaver Dam, Arizona 21:00 UTC
2.5 19 km NW of Beaver Dam, Arizona 20:59 UTC
2.3 23 km NNW of Beaver Dam, Arizona 20:58 UTC
1.9 18 km SSE of Saint George, Utah 11:33 UTC
1.7 18 km SSE of Saint George, Utah 09:30 UTC
1.6 18 km SSE of Saint George, Utah 23:39 UTC
1.6 15 km WSW of Ivins, Utah 15:51 UTC
1.6 8 km S of Saint George, Utah 19:28 UTC
2.1 24 km ESE of Littlefield, Arizona 14:19 UTC
1.5 18 km NNW of Beaver Dam, Arizona 15:34 UTC
1.7 12 km SW of Santa Clara, Utah 22:17 UTC
2.0 32 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada 17:21 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 01:38 UTC. 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.