Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Truckee, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 8:55 pm PST (04:55 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (31 mi) S, at 3:00 am PDT on 2 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 532 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Truckee
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) northwest of Truckee, CA, at 9:37 pm PDT on 6 May 2021 (04:37 UTC), 11 km deep. 100 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 19km NW of Truckee, CA
41 km (26 mi) WSW of Reno, NV
- When
- 9:37 pm PDT on 6 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) northwest of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 100 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Sierra County, 21 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mohawk Valley fault, 8 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1608 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Truckee, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Truckee, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 35 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Truckee 19 km, intensity II · Tahoe Vista 34 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 300 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 45 km E of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 9 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 30 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 8 km WSW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 39.4670, -120.3195. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Nevada County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Placer County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Placer County |
| Carson City, NV | 60 km (37 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Storey County, NV | 68 km (42 mi) | E | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Plumas County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 35km WNW of Truckee, CA
- 2.1 1km WNW of Lake Davis, CA
- 2.2 4km ESE of Truckee, CA
- 1.8 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 2.0 19km SW of Loyalton, CA
- 3.3 24km WNW of Truckee, CA
- 2.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 2.5 19km NW of Truckee, CA
- 1.8 0 km S of Lake Davis, California
- 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 2.0 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 2.5 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 1.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 1.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
- 1.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.