Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
Earthquake near Susanville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Susanville in the 24 hours to 11:06 am PST (19:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 15 km (9 mi) N, at 8:16 am PDT on 25 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Susanville
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) southeast of Susanville, CA, at 10:11 pm PDT on 3 August 2016 (05:11 UTC), 5.9 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: Northern California
73 km (45 mi) NNW of Reno, NV
- When
- 10:11 pm PDT on 3 August 2016 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) southeast of Susanville, CA · earthquakes near Susanville
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Plumas County, 57 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Warm Springs Valley fault, 2 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 3056 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Susanville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Susanville, 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Susanville, 49 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 4.5 on 2016-08-04 — about 330 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 13 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 49 km S of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km S of Doyle, California · 20 km SSE 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 40.1532, -120.1905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumas County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Sierra County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Lassen County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lassen County |
| Washoe County, NV | 78 km (49 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Washoe County |
| Storey County, NV | 98 km (61 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Nevada County, CA | 107 km (67 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.5 31 km NNE of Herlong, California
- 1.6 36 km NE of Herlong, California
- 2.2 36 km NE of Herlong, California
- 2.7 36 km NE of Herlong, California
- 2.4 37 km NE of Herlong, California
- 2.2 11 km E of Chilcoot-Vinton, California
- 1.5 36 km NE of Herlong, California
- 1.6 6 km NNE of Greenhorn, California
- 1.7 27 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.6 17 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 3.1 15 km ESE of Doyle, California
- 1.9 15 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.5 3 km WNW of Patton Village, California
- 1.6 8 km N of Lake Davis, California
- 1.6 5 km W of Patton Village, California
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.