Earthquake Swarm S20130314.1: Seismic Activity Near Cold Springs, Nevada

An earthquake swarm designated S20130314.1 occurred 7 km south-southwest of Cold Springs, Nevada, from 03:25 on 13 March 2013 to 22:53 on 14 March 2013. Over 43 hours and 28 minutes, the swarm produced 44 events, all of low magnitude and consistent with typical background seismicity in the region.

The events clustered at shallow depths, predominantly between 3 km and 8 km, with the majority around 5–6 km. Magnitudes ranged from −0.4 to 0.9, indicating microseismicity unlikely to cause surface damage. Activity showed episodic bursts, with notable clusters in the early hours of 14 March and a final event marking the swarm’s conclusion. Such patterns reflect fluid migration or stress adjustments along local fault structures rather than a single mainshock-aftershock sequence.

Western Nevada lies within the Basin and Range Province, where east-west crustal extension drives normal faulting. The Cold Springs area sits near the transition between the Sierra Nevada and the Walker Lane belt, a zone of distributed shear accommodating Pacific–North American plate motion. Historical records document recurrent low-magnitude swarms here, consistent with the region’s active tectonics.

Since 1 January 2000, 14 swarms have been recorded in the vicinity. These occurred in 2004 (two swarms), 2005 (one), 2008 (seven), 2010 (one), 2012 (two), and 2013 (one). The 2013 swarm fits this established pattern of episodic, short-duration clusters without escalation to larger events.

No significant damage or felt reports were associated with S20130314.1. Continued monitoring by regional networks supports ongoing assessment of seismic hazard in this tectonically active corridor.

References

USGS Earthquake Catalog
Nevada Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno
SeismoSight internal swarm classification data