At least 127 earthquakes have been recorded in a highly restricted region of central Nevada that contains several major US military and nuclear-related facilities.
The seismic activity began on Saturday, with the latest tremor detected on Wednesday.
The quakes ranged from magnitude 4.2 down to about 1.4, striking in the vicinity of the Tonopah Test Range, sometimes referred to as ‘Area 52.’
The remote military range near the town of Tonopah is not primarily used for nuclear detonations, but it has long been linked to US nuclear weapons programs.
The site is used to test how nuclear weapons would be delivered, including experiments where aircraft drop non-nuclear versions of bombs to study their performance.
It has also been used for missile and aircraft testing, and during the Cold War, hosted experiments in which mock nuclear bombs were dropped to simulate real weapons deployments.
The earthquake swarm is also outside of the Nevada National Security Site, which is currently active in the nation’s nuclear programs.
Scientists say the large number of earthquakes near Tonopah is most likely linked to the region’s natural geology.
The seismic activity began on Saturday, with the latest tremor detected on Wednesday. The earthquakes were recorded near the Tonopah Test Range
The area sits within the Basin and Range Province, a vast stretch of the western US where the Earth’s crust is slowly pulling apart.
As the land stretches, stress builds along hundreds of underground faults that periodically slip, triggering earthquakes.
This process often produces earthquake swarms, clusters of dozens or even hundreds of small tremors occurring in the same location over a short period of time.
While the latest tremors occurred near several military installations, experts say the earthquakes are most likely the result of natural tectonic movement rather than human activity.
However, this region of Nevada also has a long history of being used for testing America’s weapons of mass destruction, which can also cause the same types of seismic tremors being experienced over the last week.
Area 52 is a highly classified US military installation operated by the Department of Energy and the Department of War.
It has primarily been used for nuclear weapons stockpile maintenance, testing delivery systems, fusing and firing research and related classified activities.
The quakes ranged from magnitude 3.3 down to about 1.4, striking in the vicinity of the Tonopah Test Range, sometimes referred to as ‘Area 52’
The Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test Site, served as the primary location where the United States carried out nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War.
Between 1951 and 1992, more than 900 nuclear tests were conducted there, with many of the later experiments performed as underground detonations.
Although full nuclear explosions have not been carried out at the site for decades, it remains active today, hosting subcritical nuclear experiments and research designed to ensure the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
The earthquakes started on Saturday, coinciding with the US and Israel’s attack on Iran.
At the same time, the final remaining nuclear weapons treaty between the US and Russia expired earlier in February, just weeks before the concentrated swarm was detected.
In late October 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the US military to resume nuclear weapons testing, saying the move was necessary to keep pace with alleged testing by Russia and China.
There has been no announcement from the US government that full-scale nuclear explosive testing has resumed, meaning the earthquakes may be a prolonged stretch of normal geological activity in the region.
