An earthquake was reported just west of Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon, with the U.S. Geological Survey putting the final magnitude at 3.8 after an initial 4.1 reading. The quake was recorded around 1:47 p.m. about seven miles west of Summerlin in the Red Rock Canyon area.
That is why people were searching for earthquake today just now on Thursday: the shaking was fresh, local and specific, and it reached beyond the immediate Las Vegas area. Residents as far west as Pahrump reported feeling it, although there were no immediate reports of damage.
The USGS says the event carried a 33% chance of producing a 3.0-plus aftershock within the next week, enough to keep a modest amount of attention on the region through the coming days. For anyone nearby, that forecast matters more than the number itself because it points to the possibility of another jolt after the first one already passed.
The first reading also did not hold. The quake was initially listed at 4.1 before being downgraded to 3.8, and the agency later removed a separate report of a 3.1-magnitude earthquake north of Mesquite, Nevada. That leaves the Las Vegas-area quake as the day’s confirmed event, with the open question not whether it was felt, but whether anything more will follow.
