Location:

Period:

8 Mar 2020 00:49:31 - 11 Mar 2020 00:23:26 (2 days 23 hours 33 minutes)

Volcanoes in 100km radius:

Mono Lake Volcanic Field(58km), Mono-Inyo Craters(67km), Mammoth Mountain(79km)

Earthquakes:

16 swarms found nearby.

2000

S20000622.1(29.2km)

21 Jun

2 days 3 hours

130 earthquakes

2006

S20060909.2(16.1km)

8 Sep

1 day 5 hours

45 earthquakes

2009

S20090831.1(28.8km)

30 Aug

2 days 4 hours

34 earthquakes

2014

S20140516.1(13.8km)

16 May

9 hours

55 earthquakes

2015

S20151020.1(18.3km)

20 Oct

1 hours

28 earthquakes

2016

S20161204.1(27.9km)

3 Dec

1 day 20 hours

47 earthquakes

2020

S20200318.1(2.1km)

17 Mar

3 days 22 hours

75 earthquakes

S20200516.1(22.7km)

15 May

32 days 11 hours

1150 earthquakes

S20200615.1(26.8km)

14 Jun

31 days 0 hours

472 earthquakes

S20200708.2(23.5km)

7 Jul

5 days 6 hours

63 earthquakes

S20200726.1(23.1km)

25 Jul

11 days 0 hours

125 earthquakes

S20201211.1(24.3km)

10 Dec

1 day 1 hours

42 earthquakes

2021

S20210101.1(23.3km)

1 Jan

16 hours

24 earthquakes

S20210115.1(28.1km)

15 Jan

1 day 14 hours

89 earthquakes

S20210117.2(21.5km)

17 Jan

1 day 7 hours

25 earthquakes

2022

S20220123.1(14.3km)

22 Jan

6 days 16 hours

114 earthquakes

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Seismic Swarm S20200308.1 Southwest of Mina, Nevada

A seismic swarm designated S20200308.1 occurred 35 km southwest of Mina, Nevada, from 00:49 on 8 March 2020 to 00:23 on 11 March 2020. Over 71 hours and 33 minutes, the sequence produced 77 earthquakes. The events were recorded by regional seismic networks and classified internally by SeismoSight.

The swarm exhibited typical characteristics of low-magnitude activity clustered in time and space. Magnitudes ranged from –0.3 to 2.0, with most events below 1.0. Depths were predominantly shallow, between 0 and 16 km, consistent with brittle failure in the upper crust. Notable events included a magnitude 1.9 earthquake at 13:55 on 8 March at 0 km depth and another magnitude 1.9 at 06:35 on 9 March at 3 km depth. The largest event, magnitude 2.0, occurred at 04:43 on 10 March at 7 km depth. Activity peaked during the first two days before declining toward the end of the sequence on 11 March.

The location lies within the Walker Lane tectonic belt of western Nevada, part of the broader Basin and Range Province. This region accommodates northwest-directed dextral shear between the Pacific and North American plates through a network of normal and strike-slip faults. Extensional tectonics have produced numerous active structures capable of generating both isolated earthquakes and swarm-like sequences. Historical records indicate that seismic swarms are recurrent in this area, with six documented episodes since 2000 occurring in 2000, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Such swarms typically reflect fluid migration or aseismic slip triggering successive failures along favorably oriented faults rather than mainshock-aftershock sequences driven by static stress changes. The shallow depths observed in S20200308.1 align with the regional seismogenic zone, where most crustal earthquakes nucleate above 15 km. No damage or felt reports of significance were associated with this swarm, reflecting the small event sizes.

Ongoing monitoring by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey continues to track background seismicity in the Mina region. The recurrence of swarms underscores the persistent tectonic strain accumulation along Walker Lane structures and the value of dense seismic networks for characterizing low-magnitude activity that may precede larger events.

References

Nevada Seismological Laboratory earthquake catalog
U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program
SeismoSight internal swarm classification records