M5.7 earthquake shakes Nevada

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At 6:29 PM on April 13, 2026 (2026-04-14 UTM), a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck western Nevada. The USGS estimates that maximum shaking reached intensity VI (strong) near the epicenter, with reports of weaker shaking from as far away as San Francisco. We are not aware of any reports of damage. In general, the intensity of the sixth shaking may break dishes and some windows, and cause minor damage to homes.

Figure 1: Map of the 2026-04-14 M5.7 earthquake and its aftershocks. Colored lines are outlines of USGS estimated shaking intensity.

So far, more than six thousand people have reported feeling shivers at this event to the USGS’s “Do You Feel It” system; You can add your report here.

Certifications submitted to EMSC provide a more in-depth view of the experience. None of the comments described the damage, but several noted the duration of the shaking: “It lasted longer than expected.” “It was a long-lasting earthquake.” “The shaking continued for at least 30-60 seconds – Reno, Nevada.” “I wasn’t sure it would stop.” “In Sparks, Nevada, I felt a series of shifting back and forth for about a minute.”

Below are some recordings of shaking for 1 minute after the earthquake started, 1 degree (~110 km) from the epicenter. Stations closest to the epicenter are at the bottom, and those farther away are at the top. The red and blue lines indicate the approximate arrival times of P and S waves, respectively. Overall, the strongest shaking appears to have lasted for about 10-20 seconds, although it is not possible from this plot to know what level of shaking would have been detected.

To date, the USGS has detected more than sixty M≥2 aftershocks; The largest earthquake was a magnitude 3.9 about three hours after the main shock.

We last wrote about this part of Nevada in December 2024, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck 15 kilometers to the south. Below, we’ve plotted all the earthquakes that have occurred in the area since August 2024. The seismic sequence patterns are immediately visible.

Figure 4: Earthquakes since 2024-08-01. Earthquakes appear on the map and are displayed on the right on the timeline. Events above M5.5 are labeled.

Both earthquake focal mechanisms are quite similar: slip, with nodal planes oriented northeast to southwest and northwest to southeast. When the 2024 earthquake occurred, we spent some time discussing which of the two decadal planes might correspond to the earthquake, and in the end we preferred the northeast and southwest planes. We can look at that event now with several aftershocks to evaluate this conjecture:

Figure 5: Earthquakes from 2024-12-01 to 2026-01-01 around the time of the December 2024 event. Earthquakes are colored by time, and are also displayed on the right on a timeline.

In fact, the 2024 earthquake appears to have ruptured primarily a northeast-southwest oriented fault, although there were also some chaotic earthquakes in the opposite direction. A cluster of earthquakes in March and April in the south confirms the northwest-southeast trend (green on map above). This complexity is not surprising: shock earthquakes regularly appear to rupture orthogonal faults, especially in areas where a large main fault has not yet become dominant.

After the 2024-12-09 earthquake, we reasoned that it likely occurred on the Wabusca Line, which had been identified and mapped by geologists. When we place this new earthquake on the same map, we see that although there is a line parallel to the north (the Carson Line), this earthquake is not in line with it:

Figure 6: Map of major faults on Walker Lane Central. Figure 1 from Lee et al. (2017); Red stars have been added to show the locations of recent earthquakes.

Of course, these lines are not the same as the real error map. Many faults are mapped across this region, including a group of short, scattered fault segments around the recent earthquake sequence. The USGS Interactive Fault Map calls this the “Dead Camel Mountains Unnamed Fault Zone.” These particular faults appear to randomly swoop across aftershocks rather than being aligned in any obvious way, so it remains unclear whether they have much to do with the earthquakes that occurred.

Figure 7: Earthquakes since August 2024, plotted against the USGS Quaternary fault and fold database (blue lines).

Additionally, the Dead Camel Mountains were apparently named after some of the camels imported by the US Army during the mid-19th century: the Camel Corps. Although the experiment was ultimately a failure, some of the camels escaped and wandered across the desert before eventually dying, perhaps sometime in the 1940s.

This recent M5.7 earthquake clearly occurred on a different fault than the one that occurred approximately 16 months ago. However, the proximity of earthquakes in space and time is suggestive. M5+ earthquakes in this region are relatively rare. This suggests that pressure changes caused by the first earthquake sequence may have been related to the initiation of the second earthquake. On the map below, we’ve colored earthquakes by time (1980-2026), with pre-1980 events in black. The two dark red earthquakes and their aftershocks are considered among the most prominent earthquakes in recent decades.

Figure 8: Earthquakes recorded in west-central Nevada, colored by time. Earthquakes above M5.7 are described. Earthquakes before 1980 are in black.

If you look at the map above long enough, something else will come up: 1954. In the northeast corner of the map, there were six earthquakes above M5.7 during that year — in July, August, and December. What’s going on here?

This is the Rainbow Mountain-Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquake sequence, which is a series of mutually triggered natural fault events. These earthquakes in the Central Nevada Seismic Zone were initiated by two events on the Rainbow Mountain fault (1954-07-06 M6.2 and 1954-08-24 M6.5). They were followed in December by a M7.2 earthquake on the Fairview Peak fault along with the West Gate and Gold King fault, and four minutes later by a M6.7 earthquake on the Dixie Valley fault.

Figure 9: Fault models used to evaluate the Rainbow Valley-Fairview Peak-Dixie earthquake sequence. Figure 4 from Hodgkinson et al. (1996).

A 1996 study looked at how each successive rupture changed the stress on other faults in the area, and found that the stress changes in each case may have encouraged the failure of the next fault. The map below shows the pressure changes imposed by slip on the Rainbow Mountain Fault. This is a good example of how slip on one fault may lead to slip on another, completely separate fault. However, the mechanisms at play are still not entirely certain, and it is important to remember that there are also many counterexamples to this type of analysis.

Figure 10: Calculation results of stress changes caused by the Rainbow Mountain earthquake. Source: Figure 6 by Hodgkinson et al. (1996).

Is this similar to what we just saw with the pair of M5.7s out west? maybe. We’re just guessing: we don’t have any quantitative estimates of pressure change to refer to, and the time gap between the 2024 and 2026 earthquakes is longer. Fortunately, the magnitude of the earthquake is also smaller. However, the 1954 sequence is a good reminder that earthquakes sometimes appear to trigger earthquakes on other fault systems nearby.

Does this mean we should expect to see another major earthquake in the coming months? No, although that is always a (simple) possibility. The USGS current aftershock forecast gives a 3% probability that the recent M5.7 earthquake will be followed by a larger quake within the next week. More broadly, here are the full forecasts:

We note that the December 2024 earthquake also had aftershocks expected. The recent M5.7 earthquake falls outside the expected area of ​​this event. This is not surprising, because the aftershock map shows that M5.7 occurred outside the aftershock zone – even if it was triggered (which is still in doubt), it would not have been an aftershock.

If you have any additional insight into these earthquakes, the 1954 sequence, or the US Army’s adventures with camels, please let us know in the comments!

Leave a comment

Bradley, K., Hubbard, J., 2024. Mw5.8 earthquake shakes western Nevada. Earthquake Insights, https://doi.org/10.62481/7bb099ad

Hodgkinson, KM, Stein, RS and King, GC, 1996. The 1954 Rainbow Mountain-Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquakes: a normal fault sequence. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 101(B11), pp. 25459–25471. https://doi.org/10.1029/96JB01302

Li, Atmosphere, 13(6), pp. 2119-2136. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES01483.1

USGS, 2020, Quaternary Nation Fault and Fold Database, accessed [10/25/2024]at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BCVRCK

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