The March 22, 1959 earthquake
M5.7near Fallon Station, Nevada
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake 9.3 miles deep, centred in Churchill County. The 23rd strongest in Nevada’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 5.8 on December 16, 1954.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.7
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 9.3 mi
- 15.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Sunday, March 22, 1959
- 23:10 PST; 07:10 UTC on Mar 23, 1959
- In Nevada’s record
- 23rd
- strongest of 8,110 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event iscgem881629 (“47 km E of Fallon Station, Nevada”). 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 · 22.5 mi
- Nye CountyNV · 28.0 mi
- Mineral CountyNV · 28.0 mi
- Lyon CountyNV · 37.2 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
143 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
- December 16, 1954M6.9
- August 23, 1954M6.5
- July 6, 1954M6.2
- July 6, 1954M5.9
- December 16, 1954M5.8
- August 31, 1954M5.8
- July 6, 1954M5.7
- July 6, 1954M5.5
- December 24, 1932M5.5
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.