USGS confirms Nevada earthquake alert was wrong, looking into mistaken early warning

The US Geological Survey (USGS) issued — and then quickly withdrew — an erroneous alert on Thursday morning that claimed a magnitude 5.9 earthquake had struck near Nevada. The false alert, which went out just after 8 a.m., caused widespread confusion as residents scrambled to confirm whether any shaking had actually occurred.

False alarm triggers confusion

According to the initial USGS notification, a strong quake had hit east of Dayton around 8:00 a.m. Almost immediately, phones across western Nevada lit up with emergency alerts, prompting people to check with neighbors, workplaces and social media for confirmation.

But one thing became clear within minutes: no one felt a thing.

Residents reported zero shaking, despite the alert. Shortly afterward, the USGS quietly deleted the event from its website without an immediate explanation.

USGS and ShakeAlert issue clarification

A short time later, the agency’s ShakeAlert system confirmed that the notification was incorrect.

“The earthquake alerts that were delivered at 8:06 a.m. are cancelled. There was no M5.9 earthquake near Carson City, NV. We are currently looking into why the alerts were issued. We'll provide more information when we learn more,” USGS ShakeAlert said in a post on X.

The USGS has not yet provided details on what caused the false alarm, leaving many residents wondering whether the issue stemmed from a sensor malfunction, software glitch or other technical error.

Investigation underway

As of Thursday afternoon, the agency said it is continuing to investigate the source of the erroneous alert. No correction notice or technical breakdown has yet been published on the USGS website.