Sinkhole risk in Esmeralda County, NV: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 15%
At or near the surface: 15%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Esmeralda County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 519 of Esmeralda County's 3,582 square miles on soluble rock, 519 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 720 residents (0 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 503 map points about 2.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Esmeralda County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 384 miles east. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Nye County, NV 65 mi east · 7% at surface
Mineral County, NV 66 mi northwest · 7% at surface
Mono County, CA 68 mi west · 2% at surface
Inyo County, CA 85 mi south · 17% at surface
Lyon County, NV 121 mi northwest · 9% at surface
Madera County, CA 123 mi west · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Phyllitc siltstone, quartzite, and lesser amounts of limestone and dolomite (siltstone), Late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Tuffaceous sedimentary rocks at 5%.

Against the rest of Nevada

Esmeralda County ranks 7 of 17 in Nevada for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 71% of US counties on that measure.