The December 16, 1954 earthquake
M6.9Dixie Valley, Nevada
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake 7.5 miles deep, centred in Churchill County. The 2nd strongest in Nevada’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 7.1 on December 16, 1954.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 7.5 mi
- 12.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Thursday, December 16, 1954
- 03:11 PST; 11:11 UTC
- In Nevada’s record
- 2nd
- strongest of 8,110 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event nn19541216111100000 (“The 1954 Dixie Valley, Nevada Earthquake”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Counties and cities within 50 miles
Distance from the epicentre to each county boundary (zero when inside) and to each city centre.
Counties
- Churchill CountyNV · inside
- Lander CountyNV · 18.0 mi
- Pershing CountyNV · 28.7 mi
- Nye CountyNV · 40.2 mi
- Mineral CountyNV · 41.2 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
82 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more within 50 miles of this epicentre since 1973.
Earlier earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more within 50 miles, strongest first
- December 16, 1954M7.1
- October 2, 1915M6.8
- August 23, 1954M6.5
- July 6, 1954M6.2
- July 6, 1954M5.9
- August 31, 1954M5.8
- July 6, 1954M5.7
- July 6, 1954M5.5
- August 2, 1954M5.4
- July 8, 1954M5.3
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.